Man My Cannons Of Love!
by Sweet Hanabi Lights
Summary: Bleu is an illegal arms dealer masquerading under the name of a famous gunsmith. Yet, ironically she holds a grudge against every pirate under the sun. Go figure. But the persistent interference of a pirate with a stupid straw hat and the sharp words of a salty swordsman will force her to rethink her short sighted ideals and reflect on why she feels that way in the first place...
1. Troubling Tides

Author's Note: I'll let my story do the talking. If I have anything important to say or announce I'll put it up here though.

Disclaimer: I highly doubt I'd ever get sued for writing a Fanfiction but…_I do not own One Piece or any characters nor do I make money off them. This and the franchise belongs to _Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump I think.

Enjoy

**Troubling Tides**

"Where are you taking me?"

I yanked my hand away from the pirate's with a little more force than needed. The boy unfazed fixed his straw sun-hat atop his mass of black hair and looked out from the large window. I watched him with arms crossed as he seemed to survey the distance in height between where we stood on top of the light house and the rough waters below. Then he lifted his head to see a ship not too far off on the water. I followed his gaze out towards the sea. The waves were much rougher than usual and crashed against the lighthouse's walls and the cliffs surrounding it. It didn't help that the sun had long set and the only source of light was flickering weakly from the old lighthouse's bulb we stood by.

_I hope this guy knows what he's doing because if he plans on jumping he's jumping alone._

The mist from the waves rose up and sprayed my body with a cool mist. If it hadn't been for my yellow raincoat I would be completely exposed to the harshness of the cold weather. All except for my legs which only had already damp jean shorts to protect them.

"The Thousand Sunny is the big ship over there!" The teenager pointed out with pride. I squinted to inspect it further. No details could be made out from where I was standing, besides a lion like creature adorned to the mast and the suggestion of a black flag with a cartoony skull fluttering in the wind. Not very intimidating décor for a pirate ship, but I guess the abnormalness of it fitted with the abnormalness of its supposed Captain.

I dropped my faded army green back pack by my feet, relieving my shoulders of its heavy weight. When I looked at the sea my stomach lurched in opposition. I hadn't been on a ship that big in four years. Just the thought of being surrounded by water again made me nauseous.

_Maybe this isn't a good idea._

"I think I might throw up…" My voice was blocked out by the sounds of yelling men from below at the lighthouse's bottom floor. I looked down out a large window at the ground below us in order to see the commotion. Uniformed men of white and blue rushed into the light house doors below.

_Crap, they're here!_

"Make sure they don't get away!" Their Captain's faint voice echoed against the concrete wall of the building.

I forced my eyes away from the heart racing scene below. There was just only so much added stress a person could take. My eyes landed on Luffy who stood with his hands behind his head still staring out at the Big Blue. Why was he so relaxed when an army of people equipped with weapons were climbing up the stairs towards us? I couldn't tell.

"Are you joining?" He asked hopefully with a grin on his face. I turned toward the village, opposite from the Sea, where the wind carried a scent of smoke that wafted through the air. A fire amongst its docking station.

Once again I watched helplessly as the men stormed the lighthouse we stood in. The anxiety starting to build up even more each second I stood there.

_It's not like I have much of a choice._

"Fine! I'll do whatever; just get me out of here." I said hurriedly not turning away from the scene below. There was no time for idle talk when people are chasing after you.

The angry shouts of the Marines seemed to double in volume.

Luffy beamed upon hearing my form of a yes. His smile resembled that of a small child's and reached ear to ear showing the whites of his teeth. All in all, I was a bit unnerved. People shouldn't be allowed to smile that big.

Luffy grabbed the two pillars, each with one hand, stationed in front of a large window. I stood between his arms just in front of said window that overlooked the sea and the ship, The Thousand Sunny.

"Stand here." He commanded taking on a much more determined face but still retaining his cheerful demeanor.

Then he began to walk backwards, still facing me and still holding on to the pillars, to the opposite side of the room. My eyes widened. I watched him narrowly as his arms began to give way and elongate. If I wasn't so distracted with how he was doing what he was doing than I would have realized what he was actually planning on doing. And what he was planning on doing could very well defy the laws of gravity.

My mouth hung open.

_How can he stretch that far with his arms? What is this guy made out of?_

"Gum," He began, as if summoning a beast.

The door leading up to the top of the lighthouse rattled until it was blasted clean off its hinges. The smoke and dust from the wood chips of the door settled.

"Hey…You two…Stop…in the name of the law!" An exasperated Marine wheezed once he climbed into the room. Luffy continued moving backwards until his arms were stretched across the length of the room.

"Luffy?" I questioned raising my voice in a frantic manner while reaching for my backpack.

Luffy forced himself back even further stretching out his arms. I looked around feverishly. I was positioned right between both of his outstretched arms and in his line of fire.

_Does he really think this will work?_

"Gum!" He yelled once more stretching his arms as far as they would go.

My heart was beating quickly and the fact that the Marines were starting to pour in from the floorboard door and position their guns at us didn't help my blood pressure levels either.

_He's going to kill me!_

"Luffy! I change my mind!" I continued to yell clutching my backpack closer to my stomach as if it would protect me from impact.

Of course, he couldn't hear me though.

"We've got you surrounded. Now put your hands on the ground in a docile manner. If you surrender now will halve your time in jail." The injured Marine Captain announced standing in front of his fleet. They readied their guns in their hands, prepared to fire at the command of their superior.

Luffy didn't hear his order though as he jumped up relieving the tension from his arms and sending himself flying towards me with a great amount of force.

"Slingshot!" He shouted as he shot through the bodies of the Marine force wrecking their formation like a bowling ball.

In only mere milliseconds, the force of Luffy's fast approaching body launched us out of the Light house building window and into the cold dark air. All the while, only one question plagued my mind.

_How the hell did I get into this situation in the first place?_

Earlier the Same Day…

It was a rather peaceful day on Cheery Dock. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the air was filled with joyous laughter from little youngsters. Even the usually grumpy old hag selling cabbage on the corner of the street wore a cheesy grin on her face as she greeted passersbys. To the untrained eye this area would appear to be the perfect little seaside town with pleasantly colored buildings. Little would they know that the sun was scalding hot, the birds sung nonstop, and the children helping you cross the street were actually notorious thieves and murderers in the making, out to steal your money. Even the seemingly nice old lady was actually a con artist in disguise, waiting for you to buy one of her overly priced jewelry only to have it break the next day. This place was filled with deception and deceit. Under the lightly colored buildings decorated with wall flowers there slept criminals and pirates. Everything was sketchy and two faced at Cheery Dock which made the name itself an oxymoron.

But who was I to judge. I, who lived a life like many townspeople here, one where you had to mask your true intentions. If you were a visitor here and happened to pass by an old shack between the times of six and five with the name Rick's Fireworks written on the front you'd probably assume that this place sold fireworks. Well, it does. But it also sells ammunition, cannonballs, cannons, and a number of other artillery items one might need.

I've always liked fire for some reason and somehow this interest got me into the artillery business. Despite being eighteen, and a girl, I've had a lot of experience with guns. Ammunition and gun designing are my specialties and how I make a living. I even travel to create weapons for others.

While manufacturing guns and ammunition isn't necessarily a crime…it does become one when you sell them to pirates, which I've been guilty of countless times, needless to say. Even though I don't like doing business with pirates, doing business with Marines isn't all that lucrative either, especially when they force you to sell your products for ridiculously low prices under law of The World Government.

I wiped the short choppy strands of dark brown hair out of my face. The sweat caused by the sun was dripping on my body and sticking my jacket against my back. To a normal person, seeing someone like me walking down the road they'd think I was crazy, with my mid thigh length yellow rain jacket and beige boots on in the middle of the day. I would think I was crazy too if I hadn't just come from the bank. You'd be crazy to just walk around flaunting items of any value around here.

My eyes looked up weakly at the sun again. The bright ball of fire seemed to be closer than it was only mere seconds ago. In the distance, I could see my shed like building a few blocks away. The sign had been painted over with the words _Rick's Fireworks_ on the front, in crayon colored rainbow letters. If that wasn't inviting enough a unicorn had been added next to the words.

_Note to self: Hire a professional to do your sign next time, not a seven year old little girl._

As I neared closer, a ruckus sounded from within the building, as if someone had dropped a bunch of pots and pans.

"Where is he? I want to see that artillery punk!" An unfamiliar voice bellowed.

_Who's the guy causing problems now?_

I cautiously pulled open the rusty shack door and observed the situation going on in the shack.

"I want to see him NOW!" The voice now coming from a large man yelled once more. He slammed his clenched fist on the desk of my trembling associate. The young boy shrugged his shoulders before muttering something indecipherable.

Just one of the reasons I don't like doing business with pirates. They have no manners what so ever. I walked towards the large man, tapping him on the shoulder. He was a lot larger than I had calculated and towered a good two feet over me.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

It was dangerous to converse with scary looking men with a temper, but I came to learn quickly that in this business most people were all bark and no bite. Besides, no one's just going to come in here and disrespect my place.

My heart skipped a beat but I kept face and forced my grey eyes to peer up at his beady black ones.

He had scruffy brown hair and a scruffy black beard. His skin had a brownish tone to it and his arms were hairy. The smell radiating off his unwashed clothes was his most memorable feature as it burned my eyeballs and my nostrils. My poor nose wasn't at all prepared for this odor but I kept strong anyways.

"Listen punk," He began, bending down to my level, which was saying something since I was kind of tall for the average girl my age. My eye involuntarily twitched at his insultingly boyish nickname.

"My problem is that I need to see the guy in charge here, Bleu. The one who's famous for making weapons, you know, the am-mah-ni-tion expert. Not his garbage boy. " The pirate said slowly as if talking to a child. I bit my lip to keep myself from lashing out. It wasn't the fact that he had mistaken me for a boy that made me a little angry. I was used to this and even accepted it, or as much as anyone could accept being called the wrong gender. My dark brown hair was, in reality, awfully short and choppy, similar to a boy's cut. My bangs were wispy and reached the top of my eyebrows then it feathers out in random directions and the hair in the back is cut shorter. Also contributing to the gender misidentification problem was my lack of makeup and excess of freckles, thick eyebrows, and a constant layer of soot covering my body. I was rough around the edges and didn't mind getting dirty and doing rather unfeminine things in public. I had never considered myself a tomboy but the type of job I had sort of forced me into that label. It was no excuse for calling me a boy though, I wasn't that butch looking. At least in my opinion.

Even him pronouncing the word ammunition the wrong way didn't bother me that much. But then he had the audacity to spell it out to my face like I was some newbie and he was the expert.

_I can't believe this guy!_

I closed my eyes for a second and breathed in deeply my mind calculating how long it would take to whip out my gun in my jacket pocket.

"I'm not a garbage boy, I'm a girl, and the guy you're looking for is me. I'm the boss here." I said mocking his previous tone of voice as I did so . He scrunched up his face in disbelief before throwing back his head and chuckled heartedly, shaking the thin metal walls of the shack.

Once he collected himself he now watched me with a more serious facial expression.

"Do you really expect me to believe that some punk girly is Bleu the Gun expert? Now tell me where he is." He said sharply.

_Do I have to deal with this sexist crap every single business transaction?_

"I am him!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Or her!" I corrected myself.

He gazed at me with a wild look in his eyes. It was unnerving but I forced myself to hold eye contact. He released a grunt then his face took on a smug look.

"Whatever, just tell your boss or whoever that Captain Blackbeard's been looking for him and if my Captain doesn't get his stuff by tomorrow morning..." He shot a menacing glare towards the boy sitting at the counter causing the youngster to wet his undergarments. Then he made a slicing sound and moved his hand across his neck in a cutting motion. He left me with the weight of the threat bearing down onto my shoulders.

Something cold gripped my heart and forced a numbness to spread throughout my body's limbs.

He had found me. And now he was coming for my life.

_Crap._

~ **End of Chapter**

Chapter Two Preview:

**Stop the World and Let Me Off**

"_You!" He yelled in my direction. My body went rigid and dread filled my stomach. _

"_You thought you could hide from me didn't you."_

_Well this is it then._

Release Date:

7/24


	2. Stop The World and Let Me Off

Author's Note: I'll let my story do the talking. If I have anything important to say or announce I'll put it up here though.

Disclaimer: I highly doubt I'd ever get sued for writing a fanfiction but…_I don't own One Piece or any characters nor do I make money off them. This and the franchise belongs to _

Enjoy

* * *

><p><strong>Stop The World and Let Me Off<strong>

Two young children stood apart bouncing their red ball to each other playfully. Unfortunately for them, I happened to be speeding around the corner at inhuman speeds and ran through their game kicking their ball into a nearby tree. It was completely accidental of course but my mind was so distracted that I didn't notice their longing looks and sad whimpers. All I could manage was a incoherent 'sorry' before running down the pathway. I'm not an evil person, honestly, but when an infamous pirate who's been chasing you, plans on violently taking your life in the middle of the night…

The children looked sadly at the red object lodged between the tree's two branches. One even began to wail. I knew I didn't have time, being in the possible life or death situation that I was in, but something inside me forced myself to go back. I mentally slapped my face before climbing up the tree to get their ball.

To tell you the truth, I had only seen Captain Blackbeard once in my life. But it was enough to make me shudder at the mention of his name. I was fifteen years and two months old then, and an apprentice to my former boss, who had also specialized in artillery.

I didn't know my boss that well but I had always branded him to be a quiet yet commanding man. The old man was well respected, by me and the people who knew him.

When arriving to work one day, I had come to find a threatening looking man towering over the old guy. Peering through the window I placed my dirt covered face against the glass.

Captain Blackbeard stood in front of my boss clenching his hairy knuckles together. The infamous pirate's white shirt was stained with a number of odd substances and unbuttoned to reveal his large tanned hairy chest accompanied by a large potbelly. There wasn't a lack of hair when it came to his body as he had covering everything to his black shabby beard and hi unruly curly black hair. The few teeth he had were gritted together as he looked down at the old man with a malevolent glinting in his dark eyes.

Even though I had never seen one before, he was the total embodiment of what I expected a pirate to look and act like. Unkept, loud, and scary. Surprisingly, the old man didn't appear to be the slightest fearful. He only shook his head solemnly while looking at the pirate with an unwavering stare. I was unsure of what Blackbeard wanted because I couldn't hear well through the glass but the word 'special weapon' did come up a few times throughout the conversation. Whatever my previous boss had told the pirate though, must have angered him.

The Captain shook his fist in the older man's face with rage. His voice escalated to a roar.

I didn't watch what happened next because I had scrambled off into the distance. But two days later when I had built up the courage to come by, all that was left was a disheveled shed, raided of all its supplies, and an empty seat where the old man last was.

_Pirates._

It was only a year ago that one of Blackbeard's associates had approached me asking for a project to be done. I had made the mistake of declining his offer though and had gotten on Captain Blackbeard's bad side ever since.

This memory compelled my legs to move faster. I needed to get to the docks in town where the ships were located. Then I needed to get a ticket for a boat ride to the farthest city before tomorrow.

_What if I don't make it in time? Or what if I do and the ship ends up sinking and I die some horrible titanic like death, minus the romance part and just the tragedy._

All the possibilities of things that could go wrong circulated through my brain. I had enough stress to deal with paying bills and evading trouble with the law as it was.

You would think that I was used to island hoping by now since this was usually my plan of action whenever I got word that Blackbeard was in town. But I couldn't help to feel a pang of dread enter my body with the possibility that he might meet up with me.

Once I arrived at the docks where ships floated amast I pushed my way through to the usual crowd to the decks. To my dismay, there was only an empty spot where I was counting on the ferry to be waiting for its daily travel. I spotted a smaller ship off to the side where a middle aged man was unstacking crates. I ran over to him, stopping a good ways from where the wooden planks ended and the water began. The man walked over upon recognizing me and my distressed visage.

"When will the ferry get back?" I asked hurriedly before he could step out of his ship.

He looked up as if trying to recall something.

"You just missed it. It won't be back till around tomorrow evening."

_Tomorrow evening! I'll be dead by midnight._

I was about to leave before he stopped me.

"Don't you work for Rick's Fireworks?" He asked.

I nodded impatiently, ready to get back to the shack and reform a plan.

_There must be someone who can lend me a ride._

"I'd be careful if I were you. There's a new Marine Captain around here whose been cracking down on crime. I hear he may be lookin' for people illegally selling stuff to outlaws." He warned.

As if my heart couldn't sink any lower. My face paled as I responded with a half hearted thanks.

_Just what I need, more people coming after me._

"But if it's a ride you want I wouldn't mind giving you one." He offered. I looked at him suspiciously.

"How much?" I asked, readying myself for some ridiculous price.

I had devised a plan. I would run away on the boat. Then travel 1,364 miles east to get to Moonshine Island. Once there I'd invest in some stocks, rent a shed and start producing more weapons. The idea of going to that island had entered my mind before, because it had better business but I'd never acted on it. The impending trouble was actually a good thing in a since. I'd even get to come up with a new name. I sighed realizing how stupid my plan really sounded. Moving had always been a constant action in my life but now I was beginning to realize it was getting more complicated to run away.

All I needed to get were a few select weapons and some blueprints. Then I could leave here to see the light of tomorrow. I wouldn't be able to feel any relief though. Not until I've reached the next city.

For what reasons were the Marines here? Blackbeard? And why the sudden intervention in Cheery Dock's crime rate? Nothing had ever been done about crime here before.

There was a possibility that Blackbeard wasn't the only one after my head.

I had been evading the Marines for quite some time now. It was difficult to hide the fact that you were selling weapons to the criminals.

Once I arrived at _Rick's Fireworks_, I entered the back of the building where everything important was located.

When I entered the back room of the shed I gazed at its walls which were lined with various weapons.

My green backpack could hold all the blueprints of guns, designed by me and the old man along with two pistols, some gunpowder and a grenade or two. Not the safest objects to have in one's baggage but I didn't want to leave the best arsenal behind.

All I really needed was my memory.

I did however strap a large bazooka like weapon enclosed in paper across my back. It was my favorite of all the weapons because I had designed it myself.

I looked across the room to a display hanging in the corner. A layer of dust covered the outside case.

"Now all I need is that pistol edition up there." I whispered to myself. I walked over to the frame and unlocked the latch. To my surprise the case was void of anything, just a bare place where a pistol should be.

"Where..?" I said out loud in astonishment.

_Had someone been in here?_

"Wow," A voice said in wonder.

My heart caught in my throat.

I whipped around knocking over a table of cannonballs in the process. A young man in his teens stood in the doorway inspecting a small circular object in his hands. The exact one I was looking for. His dark eyes were wide with amazement.

The boy seemed about my height maybe shorter and wore blue faded rolled up shorts and a sleeveless red shirt. Black messy hair poked up from under his yellow straw hat. He looked up at me, almost a bit surprised, as if I was the invader.

"Who are you?" He asked.

I blinked for a second.

"Oh, I'm Ble - Wait a second! Who the heck are you?" I retorted angrily.

He grinned. His posture straightened.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy." He said jabbing his thumb to his chest as if I should already know.

I stared at him for a while, trying to calm myself.

"Is Bleu here?" He was straight to the point about what he was here for.

"No one works here anymore." I told him, distracted with trying to zip up my backpack.

_Now leave._

"When does he come back?" He asked still rolling the ball like object in his hands.

I stopped shoving my stuff into my bag only momentarily before continuing.

_Was he listening?_

"Stop playing with that, it's not a toy." I told him while snatching the grenade from his hands.

Here he was playing around with a dangerous explosive like it was a ball! I held it with a bit more care than usual and placed it in my coat pocket. I lugged my backpack over my shoulder not realizing how heavy it actually was. I was used to lugging large objects around though, so the pain wasn't anything I couldn't handle.

Pushing my way past the Straw hat pirate I made my way quickly out the front door, with Luffy right behind me.

"Are you his son?" He asked.

My eye twitched a bit. I glanced back at him. There was a noticeable stitched scar under his left eye as he looked at me with keen interest. Did he not realize that I didn't want him around?

I looked at the deserted streets around us. The coast seemed to be clear of any potential ease droppers.

"My name is Bleu alright but I don't have time to do any business right now." I said lowly as if anyone could be listening and knowing this town they probably were.

"And I'm a girl, in case you didn't notice." I added.

Luffy' eyes broadened as he stared at me with disbelief.

I guess it was hard for some people to believe that the ammunition expert they were looking for was eighteen years old.

"You're a girl!" He said incredulously. I shushed him, looking to see if anyone had heard his loud and idiotic outburst. It would be ideal if I could leave without many people noticing me.

"Yes, now please leave." I hissed.

He looked at me for a moment, like he was deciding on something. I felt like I was being put on display. Then his gaze rested on my face.

"But your hair is short. Only guys have short hair." He stated matter-of-factly.

"That doesn't mean anything." I replied touchily to his silly logic.

_Why was I still talking to this guy? I needed to worry about getting on that boat and leaving._

Still he followed. I pretended not to be affected by his presence but it was very difficult to do so. The scenery began to change from a rural scenery to a more businessy urban scenery.

"Great! I've found my ninth crew member," He said happily.

"I just thought you would be old man though," He said as he mimicked an older person walking.

"And have a long beard." He motioned across his hairless chin with his hand.

_What was he talking about?_

The amount of people walking had increased as we entered the downtown. I was almost there.

"I really need to go." I told him while walking as swiftly toward the more hectic part of Cheery Dock, where the ships were located.

"Wait! You should join my crew." He said while keeping in tandem with me with ease.

I increased my walk speed by a large amount despite the heavy load I carried on my back. It was amazing how Luffy's face looked so sincere. Almost to the point where I thought he could be serious. Almost.

"Join your crew!" I replied skeptically.

_Was this stranger actually asking me to join his 'crew'? _

"Yeah, a pirate crew! When I heard about you I had to get you to join. The Thousand Sunny needs someone to take care of its cannons and stuff. I heard how you were the best around here so I came to recruit you." He replied smiling at himself.

I wouldn't be able to describe the look of incredulity on my face.

"I can't play pretend pirate adventure with you. If I don't leave now I could get left behind on this island!" I said in distress pushing my way once again past the straw hat 'pirate'. He scratched the back of his head, wondering why I had declined his offer. Discouragement was absent from his face though as he followed me through the crowd. I looked behind me and saw that he had disappeared into the large mass of bodies bustling through the street.

_Well that was quick. _

I made my way to the docking station where boats were gathered. My ride to freedom was only two steps away. The man from before stood in his boat waiting for me, ready to lift his anchor and take off.

The sound of marching overrode the sounds of the crowd. It was coupled with the sound of clinking badges and an offbeat drum and trumpet. A procession of marines marched through the crowd towards the boats resting in the dock. The beat of my heart became erratic with anxiety.

Only one leap separated me from temporary freedom.

_Why me?_

I tried to look inconspicuous, hiding behind a larger man than I. I peeked over his shoulder to get a better view. A rat faced man stood in front of his line of Marines. Since he wore the official Marine head cap and elaborate shoulder pads I could tell he was of Captain Rank.

He slanted his eyes and scrunched up his whiskered face in disgust upon looking at the throng of townspeople.

He cleared his throat in an attention grabbing manner.

"Citizens of Cheery Dock, My name is Captain Nezumi of the Marines and I've come here to keep you people safe." He spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

"This city has been riddled with crime for years which I have been put in charge of weeding out. To begin this weeding, we'll be starting by checking your docking stations for," he paused to give dramatic effect.

"Any certain illegal activities." The people gathered looked worriedly at each other and hushed whispers fell upon them. I could bet you that three out of every five people in the crowd of had something illegal being shipped out to sea. The Captain walked past me slowly causing me to hold my breath longer.

_Please don't see me._

I closed my eyes shut in hopes of blocking out the scene before me.

"You!" He yelled in my direction. My body went rigid and alarm filled my stomach.

"You thought you could hide from me didn't you."

_Well this is it then._

"You didn't think I'd see those rare Neon Trout hidden under those potatoes didn't you? I can sniff out injustice from a mile away, my friend." He motioned his troops to take away the poor man standing in front of me.

"Wait! Please! I-I have a wife and kids." He tried struggle against their grip but it was no use.

"Yeah, yeah, we've all heard that one before." They dragged him away from the crowd as people looked on with sympathy and relief.

"Selling Neon Trout a week before its even hunting season, for shame." The Captain shook his head and sucked his teeth.

That could have been me being dragged through the crowd by two overly buff marines to God knows where.

I felt obliged to speak up for the poor Neon Trout fisherman. There were people in this town who had committed ten times more serious crimes than fishing at the wrong time and had never gone to jail for it. It was a bit unfair that he would have to pay for it.

Too bad I was one of them though. This fact kept my mouth shut.

"Who's next?" The Captain asked giddy with excitement. He seemed to love what he did.

"No one else has anything they're hiding?"

No one said a word.

"Really? Marines, start checking luggage."

He ordered. The men spread out, some stopping at each boat. They tore open bags and ripped through crates. What they were expecting to find, I was unsure but whatever they find I hoped it was none of my stuff.

"You! Guy with the oddly large backpack!" The Captain snapped. It took me a moment before realizing that he was referring to me. The crowd of people parted like the red sea as I was rudely pushed before him.

"Hey!" I cried out.

How it burned me that everyone was so ready to sacrifice myself before them. Not to say that I was disappointed though. In order to be disappointed I would have to be surprised.

_What a bunch of sell outs._

~ **End of Chapter**

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><p>Chapter Two Preview:<p>

**S.O.S**

_Is this my destiny Sun? A future filled with jail time and community service? Cus' it sucks if it is. _

_But give me some sign if it isn't._

Release Date:

8/1


	3. SOS

Author's Note: So yeah, I updated on time... I'm so proud of myself. *Eats congratulatory cookie*

Random: Has anyone seen the anime Tiger and Bunny? 'Cuz it's awesome.

Disclaimer: I highly doubt I'd ever get sued for writing a Fanfiction but…_I do not own One Piece or any characters nor do I make money off them. This and the franchise belongs to _Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump I think.

Diverti (Enjoy) :)

* * *

><p><strong><span>S.O.S<span>**

"Don't you think it's a little too hot to be wearing an over sized raincoat in this heat?"

The leering Captain stated inquisitively.

"What heat?" I replied dumbly.

Desperate times called for desperately stupid responses.

He furrowed his brows at me and leaned in closer to my face. We were the same height so it made it difficult for him to command a sense of intimidation. I stepped back unconsciously.

"It's ninety degrees Fahrenheit outside in the evening. Aren't you a little hot?" He walked closer to me. By now the crowd's attention had settled on me and the inclosing Captain. I wrapped my raincoat closer to my body.

"N-no, I'm not. I feel great." I said once again. Beads of sweat dropped down from my forehead and rested on my brow.

I surveyed the area for possible escape routes. Water stood under the deck below me and the only way off was blocked by marines, unless I could make a speedy escape with…

Before my very eyes my only hope of freedom was sailing off into the distance, escaping the troubling scene of the law.

_I can't believe this! At least pay me back my boat ticket if you're just going to bail on me._

"Captain Nezumi," A low ranked Marine appeared behind us with his hand raised in a saluting gesture. The rat faced Captain turned swiftly on his heel to address him.

"What is it?"

"I was just saying that raincoats are pretty fashionable nowadays, so it might not be so unusual to see people wear them, Sir." He stated respectfully.

"Am I paying you to be my personal fashionista? Now get back to work or I'll deduct from your pay!" Captain Nezumi snapped.

"Actually Sir, I'm just a volunteer, I don't get-"

"Back to work!"

While this trivial conversation about raincoats and fashion, two things I have no great interest in, went on, I tried to inch my way back into the crowd. Unfortunately for me, the Captain noticed.

"Enough talk." He dismissed the man with a wave of the hand.

"Now, show me your bag."

I self consciously fumbled with the straps, in an attempt to stall time. He squinted his beady eyes at me in impatience.

_If he sees what's in here I'm done for. I have to come up with a plan!_

I couldn't rely on my cute and innocent looking features or my 'sex' appeal to convince this Captain to let me off the hook. Mostly because I had the sex appeal equal to that of a squash and my looks didn't scream innocent or cutesy at all. My body had developed way beyond that of a little child but you could still tell I hadn't entered into adulthood. My chest wasn't pronounced at all and my 'full' hour glass figure had yet to set in. I was still boxy, tall, and gangly. My face had smudges of dirt carelessly wiped across it and my eyes were sunken grey and dull.

There was nothing that looked sexy or sweet about me, except my freckles, but that was pushing it.

I looked like a complete boy.

"All I have are just some old toys for a …orphanage for children, I'm heading too." I lied.

"Oh really?" He said skeptically. He lunged for an object protruding from my back pack. I barked in protest but his men grabbed me from behind. The object he held in his hand was grey and circular. He looked at it suspiciously.

"Then what is this?"

I knew exactly what it was. A level 4 explosive hand grenade. I took it in my hands and pretended to inspect it as if I had never seen an object like it before.

"This old thing? It's just a ball, see?" I tossed it in my hands playfully.

Bluffing was one of my strong points.

My movements were a bit shaky and unnatural though. Just the thought of how much damage this could do if it were to go off. Luckily, the safety handle should still be attached to the device preventing it from going off but I could never be too secure.

All I needed to do was make it look harmless. I felt the grips of his men loosen around my forearms. The Captain stroked his long whispers thoughtfully and peered at the object in my clammy hands.

_I can't believe it. They seem to be buying it._

For a second I felt a bit more comfortable.

"If this was a bomb, would I be able to do this?" I tossed grenade behind me where it landed on a medium sized Marine's floating near the docks.

"See? Completely harm-" In an instant the ship burst into a light show of flames and fireworks. People sheltered themselves from the blast and the random planks of wood flying through the air. If that wasn't enough the inflamed ship began to steadily sink into the water with the cries of men coming from it.

I didn't dare turn around for fear of confirming the horrible truth.

I looked at the blank faces of the surrounding Marines but their eyes were fixated on the fire before them. As the debris settled the Captain looked through the crowd fervently.

He was looking for me but I had already left fifty four seconds ago.

My escape attempt was hampered by my bulky bag and bazooka that weighed almost half my weight. It also didn't help that I stood out like a sore thumb amongst the townspeople.

Fighting to stay alive was nothing new to me. I was a survivor, or at least that's what I tried to reassure myself as I hurtled down the town's streets men running after me. I shifted the weight of my bag from my left shoulder to my right. The leather strap was beginning to dig into my shoulder blade as I ran making it more difficult to concentrate.

_How did that even go off? It was supposed to have a safety lock? Or maybe-_

"Stop!" The faint yell of men resonated. I tried quickened my pace but my legs wouldn't comply.

This was no time for my limbs to give up on me.

I couldn't afford to get caught. I had too much at stake. Too much to lose. If I were caught then I'd be arrested, thrown in jail and my life would end.

I made a sharp turn to the best of my ability down an alley way. Clothes lines were strung across the wall holding damp underwear and shirts. The tiled ground was slick from the morning rain. This wasn't the best idea I realized when I slid and fell into a line of clothes.

I struggled against the bondages but the more I moved the more entangled I became until I had to finally stop and think about what I was doing.

"Crap." I whispered in frustration.

The group of men following me passed the thin alley way except for two, who stopped just a few feet away. I laid still under the mass of clothes, hoping they wouldn't see me.

"Did you hear something?" I heard one of the voices say.

"I don't think so." The other responded.

"Are you sure? Because I could have sworn-"

"Does it really matter?" A third voice joined in.

"Yeah, I'm sure this guy is just a D ranked criminal."

My eye twitched reflexively.

_I'm a girl!_

"Stop complaining. Captain Nezumi told you it was important that we catch the Ammunition expert Bleu. Anyone who looks even mildly suspicious could be a possible target."

"But everyone looks mildly suspicious in this city!" One retorted.

"What, did you see that pile of clothing move?" My body went rigid.

"It's probably just rats."

The sound of footsteps against tiles became louder.

"Well what do we have here?" Something poked my cheek with the end of its pistol. The underwear covering my face was lifted. A group of men looked down at me in surprise.

"Hey, I think I found that boy!" The youngest Marine yelled cheerfully. He pointed at me with delight, glad that he had found me first.

_I can't believe this!_

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the arsonist." Their Captain said playfully. He sauntered up to my entangled form lying on the ground and smiled devilishly.

"I-I can explain, uh," I swallowed and furrowed my brow. It was hard to remain hardened while you were wearing someone's boxers.

I was left with very few options. Once they found the artillery in my backpack they were bound to connect the dots and find out who I really was.

_I guess this is it._

Only a few rays of light shown through the small cracks of the building. The sun was starting to set. It'd be night time soon.

I tried moving my arm behind me to my back pack. I was desperate, but the scene looked hopeless. Even if I were to get access to any of my weapons I'm still surrounded. Where would I even escape too? It's not like I know anyone who would consider taking me in…

Not like I was expecting anyone to come to my aid. What had I'd ever done to help anyone but myself?

I needed a miracle.

Then as if the setting sun had heard my pathetic prayer something burst through the wall taking out the Captain and his three men. The younger Marine looked on with terror as his Captain flew powerlessly through the air. Once the dust settled the familiar form of a teenage boy was stood . He stepped across the unconscious bodies of the marines over to wear I lay in shock.

I looked up to the horizon again.

_Next time make the sign a little less destructive, but thanks anyways._

"Bleu!" Luffy stood above me with arms outstretched. He grinned down at me holding a peace sign of triumph.

"You just…flew through a…wall." I choked. The hole he made was pretty large. He looked back at it himself as if he had just realized it was there.

"Yeah, I saw you in trouble so and going through the wall is quicker." He merely shrugged and turned back to me.

_That doesn't make any sense._

"That's incredible." I said breathlessly. Luffy walked towards me and ripped some of the clothes lines apart freeing me from their trap.

I shook myself back into reality. I had to find a way to catch another ship. Any ship really, whether it is a fisherman's ship or a cruise ship, as long as it got me off this island. Luffy noticed my troubled face.

I got up making sure everything in my bag was where it was supposed to be. Then I securely strapped my large bazooka and back pack onto my back and started walking off in the other direction.

"Are you going to join my crew? Oh, and you left this ring thingy. I wanted to give it back but you left."

He held out a small spherical silver ring. A ring that looked oddly familiar to the safety ring attached to grenades.

A flash back replayed in my head from earlier today. Luffy stood in the shack fumbling with the grenade before I snatched it from him.

"You," I said a bit venomously despite the fact that he had momentarily saved me from possible incarceration. But I could have possibly gotten my ride if he hadn't taken off the ring earlier and wasted my time. I slanted my eyes at him.

The large blast seemed to have attracted the attention of the other Marines. I had to leave the area quickly.

Luffy and I hurtled down the alleyway and out into the open street.

"Look, thanks for earlier but I have to find a ship." I said while running.

"Are you running from those the Marines?" He asked curiously.

_What else would I be running from?_

"Uh, yes." I said, hesitant to give out any further information.

"So you're already a pirate? What's your bounty?" He asked excitedly.

"I'm not a pirate." My responses became more agitated.

"If you want, I can take you to my ship."

_This guy owns a ship?_

"Really?" I asked warily.

"If you promise to be my Master Gunner," He added with a grin.

For what reason this guy was so determined to add me to his group, I was unsure.

"There they are!" A Marine yelled.

But it didn't matter because he seemed my only hope for escape I needed to take this opportunity.

Behind us was a group of armed men hot on our trail.

"He's in cahoots with the dangerous Monkey D. Luffy. Catch that pirate bomber terrorist at all costs!"

He yelled with disgust.

"I'm not affiliated with hi-" I stopped and tried to reconcile but to no avail. A bullet grazed my cheek and hit the wall beside me. I froze.

_Are they actually shooting at me?_

I contemplated firing back but realized that none of my weapons were loaded.

_Crap!_

Before I knew it I was whisked away by Luffy out of the line of fire. He pulled me by the hand and soared down the road where the Marines followed.

It was all too quick for me to realize what was happening. I was thrown against his chest and lifted in his arms. I grabbed onto the hem of his red shirt shocked at the sudden change in movement and lack of personal space.

"What are you doing?" I asked fearfully.

"I'm taking you to the Thousand Sunny." He replied. He hoped onto a crate and then on top of a rooftop, feats that shouldn't be doable by normal humans. My stomach moved with each sudden rise and fall making me queasy. I closed my eyes to keep myself from seeing the ground far below.

If I wasn't so scared out of my mind from the bullets passing by me I would have marveled at the fact that he was able to carry both myself and the weapons in my bag so easily.

When I noticed that we had finally come to a stop, he placed me on the floor. I blushed when I noticed my arms were still latched onto his shirt. It wasn't intentional but I couldn't help but to push him away roughly. My breathing was as quick as was my heart beat.

"Don't ever do that again." My voice wavered. I tightened my grip on my backpack strap to see if it was still there. Then I breathed a sigh of relief when it was.

"We're almost there." He said in anticipation not affected by my ill mood.

"If we go up the lighthouse we'll see it better." He added pointing to the tall building in front of us.

"Fine." I said looking over my shoulder. The Marines could be here any second now.

"Let's go."

Luffy led the way into the white marble building. He ran up the stairs skipping at least three each as he went. In contrast, I clambered up the steps arduously, feeling the weight of the artillery in my bag and the large gun weighing down on my shoulders and back. By the time we reached the top floor where the big light was located my back was aching and pounding. Luffy didn't seem at all exasperated. There actually seemed to be a look of excitement on his face.

_He better not be lying about this ship._

I didn't know Luffy and I was very doubtful of his overly friendly offer. But he did kind of save me from being arrested and shot at, which put me in a bind.

Before, I never had someone do something like that for me. And I felt somewhat bound to return the favor. I just didn't know how exactly…

_What could I be in for?_

Back to Current Timeline…

I screamed. It was a very high pitch scream that I didn't think was possible for my scratchy vocal chords. We could fall into the water any second. All I had time to do was close my eyes as the wind whipped across my face.

We landed; I face first, into the blanket of the sail and tumbled down till we rested at the bottom of its linen.

I didn't think it was possible what this guy did. He burst through a wall, leaped from rooftop to rooftop, and used himself as a human slingshot to propel us fifty yards through the air all the way to his ship. These were things that you read about in story books.

Soon I was to learn that there were going to be many other unfeasible things Luffy could do, physically and mentally.

~ **End of Chapter**

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><p>Chapter Three Preview:<p>

**Meet and Greet and Be Surprised  
><strong>

_Soon I fell backwards pushing the door open, where I crawled frantically down the hallway as fast as I could. If only had I watched where I was going because I tripped over something soft and furry and landed flat on my face on the floor._

_"Owie," I heard it groan._

Release Date:

8/8

**Please feel free to review, or even criticize. I like to know how I'm doing so far. :D**


	4. Meet and Greet and Be Surprised

Author's Note: I'm really thankful for anyone who has reviewed or even taken the time to read this. It makes me really happy. [UPDATE] **I know I originally said this was coming out on the fifteenth but since school is starting and I have to finish up so last minute summer assignments I'll have to move it to the 22nd. I'm really sorry (especially to those who have been following patiently) and I'll try my best to have it out before then!**

Random: School is on the horizon….

Disclaimer: _I do not own One Piece or any characters nor do I make money off of them. This and the franchise belong to _Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump, I think.

Tanoshimu (Enjoy) :)

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><p><strong>Meet and Greet and Be Surprised<strong>

"_Stop! What are you doing?"_

_I clumsily scrambled for the match. I didn't know why I needed it so badly. But my calloused fingers seemed to work by themselves as they rummaged through my pockets._

"_You'll kill yourself!" The deep voice warned again. There was a sense of urgency in his voice. I looked around but there was nothing there. Just darkness. So where could the voice be coming from?_

_I did not listen to the heeds and warnings though. I was in my own world and my mind was set on one goal._

"_I know what I'm doing." I whispered. Yet I could see I said this to comfort myself more than the voice._

_My small weak hand was shaky as it clutched the tiny match and hovered above the lighting pad. Then I swiped it twice over the sandpaper before getting a spark of light from the match. It flickered in the dark for a second before I threw it into the air. _

_There was silence._

_And then,_

_A light-_

My eyes shot open and I reached up to my face frantically feeling it to make sure it was okay.

_It was just a dream._

Once my breathing stabilized I sat back in the bed to try to think things out. I lifted the sweat soaked sheets from my body.

_Where am I?_

The room I was in was dimly lit, but I was able to tell that it was kind of small. I looked to my right and there was a wooden desk pushed against the wall. Above the desk were cabinets filled with jars of random substances and needles. An IV rack was placed next to it. If I didn't know any better I would have thought I was in some type of doctor's office. But that couldn't be right.

Then it hit me like a flight train. Images of Luffy, Marines, guns, fire, and flying all circulated through my head.

What a nightmare.

It annoyed me that I couldn't seem to remember what exactly happened after I landed onboard that night.

_Was I drugged?_

I patted my body. I still wore my clothes from yesterday, but the weaponry hidden inside my jacket had been removed, or possibly stolen. Even my jean shorts, although a bit ripped, were still on my body. My boots however were missing in action. Another strange alteration was a band-aid located on my knee that, of all things, had a smiley face drawn on it.

Strange.

Throwing the white covers off my body I hopped off the twin sized bed and onto the cold wooden floor. A rocking sensation hit me causing my legs to wobble. I cradled my suddenly heavy head in my hands and held myself up on the edge of the bed. I felt awful.

No time to get queasy. If anything else I had to find my back pack and my bazooka. I had to.

I looked over at the swivel chair placed near the desk. A small snoring sound emanated from it. The swivel chair's back was turned to me so all I was able to see was a large red hat and two sticks pointing from it. I eyed it suspiciously but whatever happened to be in the chair didn't stir.

_It's probably just a cat…hopefully._

Finding my way around was quite tricky, since the ship was rather large and the motion sickness didn't help me either. The rocking movement churned my insides, making me nauseated. I held onto the walls for support while I navigated around.

Passing through some restaurant like dining room I entered a long hallway. Voices came from the other side. My senses heightened with the knowledge that there were people out and about.

I made my way down the hall but this time with more caution. The sound of my socked feet stepping on the floor board made a creaking noise. Then another sound arose down the hall. It was a tapping noise, almost like how a horses' hoof sounds when it hits the pavement but softer. I looked on either side of me. I wasn't sure who to expect but I didn't want to take my chances. I came to the decision that maybe it would be best if I avoided meeting any one right now.

Soon I found my way to a ladder leading upward. It was my best bet for escape. Once I reached beyond the ceiling I entered into another yet another room. There were shelves and shelves of books lined against the wall. Never had I'd seen so much literature stored in one place before.

If I hadn't been so worried about my things I could have taken the time to relish in the impressiveness of the collection of books. But unless the books could give me clues as to where my stuff was it held no other interest to me.

Continuing up the ladder I found myself entering in yet another room. Except this room was really small and cramped, had a sink, and two doors. The sign Toilet was hung above one door, which caused me to assume that this room acted as a bathroom. But what could the other door lead to? I knew it probably wasn't within my best interest to explore rooms in this ship but I couldn't afford to leave any room unchecked.

Truthfully, I didn't completely trust Luffy, or at least I know I shouldn't probably trust him. I had only known him for a day. Not even a full day. This boy also had strange powers, which were probably an effect of eating one of the legendary devil fruits, which definitely meant he was a lot stronger than he looked.

Oh, and he was a pirate. Pirates are sneaky. Who knows his real intentions for bringing me here? His plans for me may involve involuntary labor as I slave away on his ship.

All I need are my guns. Then I'll feel somewhat safer knowing that weaponry hadn't been stolen.

I went into the room slowly.

The air was a lot damper for some reason and a layer of mist floated about. The sound of sprinkling water halted. The room was tiled and there seemed to be a large tub on the other side of me.

_Was I in some washroom?_

"Luffy, is that you?" A surprisingly deep voice asked nonchalantly. I squeaked.

My body wouldn't cooperate. As the white mist dissipated a tall figure appeared in the opposite part of the area. The man stood, back towards me, toweling his short green hair near a shower nozzle.

I had to admit that I had never in my entire lifetime of eighteen years have seen a guy in the nude before. And it showed as my eyes slowly gazed down his muscular back. He had wide shoulders and slight bulging muscles. The water dripped down his shoulder blades and down the length of his spine. No part of his tanned physique was left undefined.

Almost as if my eyes had a brain of their own they traveled down farther to his exposed backside just barely visible from the mist hiding it. It was one of those things that you know you shouldn't see but you just can't turn away.

My hands rushed up to my face and I could feel the heat burning through them. My chest was pounding.

The naked man turned towards my general area, his face still covered with his towel.

_Oh God._

"Sanji?" He called out again in an annoyed voice. His deep voice rattled me into reality.

_Think of something quick! Or at least run away! Do something!_

Covering my eyes with one hand, to prevent myself from further scarring, I quickly ran out of the room slamming the door in the process.

There was a possibility that if I left quietly he wouldn't know that I was even there. Alas, I was very unsuccessful in my escape. My legs always choose to stop working in the most vital of times.

One of my large feet tripped over the other and vaulted my body down the ladder, and into the library room. Surprisingly, when I hit the ground it gave way a little as if I had landed on some sift pillow.

_Oh God._

A muffled voice groaned beneath me. "Owie,"

It took me a second to digest my shock from the events earlier and to force my muscles to move. Hastily, I pushed my body off of the pile of brown fuzz with two sticks on its head that lay crumpled under me.

"S-sorry," I found myself mumbling shakily as I knelled next to the creature.

It blinked its large black eyes and rubbed its back with its hoof. The animal resembled that of a small plushy moose as it got up on its short hind legs. Then the moose like creature dusted its little red jacket and shorts off and fixed its red top hat, very uncharacteristic for an animal by the way, and looked at me with its two large round eyeballs.

"Oh! You're awake." It stated in a high sweet voice, one that you'd expect to come from a child. I looked around me in wonder.

_Did this animal just talk to me?_

I had heard of talking animals but I had never seen one myself. A shot of pain traveled through my arm as I pinched myself confirming that yes-I was in reality.

The animal was uncertain and maybe even a bit timid as he held out his brown fuzzy hoof towards me.

"H-Hi, my name is Chopper." He smiled warily.

_This animal DID just talk to me!_

I looked at his outstretched hoof for a moment. Then slowly I raised my hand to his and shook it lightly.

"Hi…I'm Bleu," I said back awkwardly.

He stood there for a while rubbing his arm and squirming under my gaze uncomfortably.

I couldn't help but stare. I knew it wasn't nice but I just couldn't help myself. An actual talking animal was standing before me afterall.

He looked puzzled but started to speak quietly.

"Well, I was just coming to check on you um, since you weren't in the infirmary and…"

_What had I even come up here for in the first place?_

"Where are my things? Where is Luffy? And where am I?" I asked all at once.

He looked at me scratching his head for a moment. With his hoof. Which still was unbelievable.

"When you c-came last night I took you to the infirmary because you had passed out. And um,then Luffy took your things somewhere I think,"

"Oh,"

_So that was him sleeping in the chair earlier._

"Are you the…doctor?"

He grinned bashfully making circles with his foot on the floor.

"Kind of," He stated softly. He looked embarrassed but was fighting to hold back a smile.

_The ship's doctor was a moose?_

Strange.

"Can you take me to Luffy? I need to see him." I urged.

"Sure," he responded cheerfully.

Chopper made his way to the ladder after looking back at me and started climbing down. I followed eagerly not before looking up the ladder where the bathroom above was, one more time. I could still feel the heat residing in my face. Who knows how long it will take to remove that image out of my virgin mind.

Once we landed on the floor I followed Chopper through the hallway. Chopper was not at all discrete as he stared up at me time and again. But when I happened to look back down at him he would quickly turn away, whistling a cheery tune. Well, it would be cheery if he could actually whistle. Instead it sounded like a dying bird.

I pretended I didn't notice and suppressed the urge to stare at him further. I didn't want to startle the animal humanoid talking hybrid.

Suddenly I felt my legs buckle and I fell against the wall.

Chopper gasped dramatically. "Are you okay?" His little voice called after me. He held his hooves over his mouth and ran over to me.

"I'm fine." I lied, as I toppled once more due to the rocking motion of the ship.

"I just need to find Luffy." I forced myself to say. It was difficult to put up the facade that a feeling of queasiness didn't just wash over me. My fake smile was painful and forced but Chopper appeared to believe it and carried on.

"How about you just bring Luffy to me? I'll wait here."

"Are you sure? Because everyone is really excited to meet you."

_Really, because I'm not excited in the least._

I nodded and smiled again. Chopper looked back at me but scurried down the hallway his hooves making a click clacking sound as he went.

Actually I just wanted an excuse to sit down and rest my stomach. The nausea had seemed to have passed earlier, probably from the trauma, but now it had returned. My arms held my belly and I leaned against the wall.

_I don't know if I can do this._

Moonshine Island. That was my goal. I reminded myself. As long as I made it there safely, no amount of seasickness could stop or discourage me. All I had to do was play pretend pirate for a while, man Luffy's cannons or whatever and I'd be set.

My face was still burning from that embarrassing encounter from before. Even as I tried to force myself to forget it, to pretend it never happened, the image would pop up randomly like it was ingrained into my memory. Every. Single. Excruciating. Detail. I'd never seen a guy that bare before. Just the thought of him being naked and that close to me made me want to...

_Oh God._

Hopefully that person hadn't seen me. He did call out Luffy and some other guy's name so he must have thought I was one of them. But I couldn't think about that now. The fact that I was so riled up about it made me angry. It was just a guy. A naked muscular guy. But still a guy nonetheless. I've seen plenty of guys in my lifetime. He was nothing new.

Except he was naked.

I groaned.

_Get yourself together! At least you didn't see his…_

_Curses, now I'll be seeing that in my dreams too!_

The door burst open to reveal Luffy standing in the doorway with an excited look on his face.

"Bleu!"

_All I needed were 33 more seconds of peace._

"Luffy-"

"Come on! You have to meet everybody!" Luffy said in an impatient manner. It was like I was his new toy and he wanted to show me off to all his friends.

He pulled out of the room in a fluid motion with ease and dragged me down the hall. I struggled to keep up with his speed as he whisked me past some doors and up a flight of stairs. My stomach wasn't at all prepared for the sudden jerking motions and I felt the rising urge to empty yesterday's breakfast all over the floor.

"Luffy, wait," I needed to talk to him for a second. Everything was going so painfully fast.

I wasn't ready. I didn't even know what I was going to say.

He pushed open the doors where sunshine spilled into my face. It was daytime and it hurt. The sky was a light blue color, clear of any dark clouds and a complete contrast from yesterday's weather. The air was fresh and salty and its breeze carried the scent into my nostrils.

"This is Bleu, the person I was talking about! She's going to be our new gunner!" Luffy said eagerly.

Two people stood in the middle of the deck. One was a girl, around my age, with shoulder length orange hair and brown eyes. She wore red striped white t-shirt and a short jean mini skirt.

The other companion looked a younger. He was a probably not much older than Luffy was. His most memorable feature was his long Pinocchio-like nose. His hair was black and curly and he had an orange cap and goggles on his head. He wore simple brown overalls that were a bit torn.

The female sauntered towards. She looked me over while holding her hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner. She was pretty I noticed. A woman who seemed well kept with her perfectly manicured fingers and nicely ironed designer clothing. I ran a hand through my short brown tresses which were covered it soot and sticking up in unsystematic directions.

I could really use a shower. But I quickly cursed myself when images of a certain person in the shower entered my mind again.

The other guy rubbed his arm apprehensively and gave a goofy half smile.

The girl seemed somewhat curious but had a calculating look on her visage while the guy looked at me with interest.

"My name is Usopp, the sniper." He said proudly while puffing out his chest.

"I'm Nami, the ship's navigator. Nice to meet you." She said with a slightly obligatory smile.

I nodded. "Uh, Bleu," I said simply.

No one offered to shake hands. We simply looked at each other, sizing on another up.

"What's going on here?"

A blonde haired man with a curly eyebrow and a black suit walked up towards me with his hands placed in his pants' pockets. He was followed by a tall skeleton also dressed in a more flamboyant suit, with a puffy black afro. The skeleton man bowed waving his hand in an extravagant motion.

The blonde man looked me intently at me for a second before taking the cigarette out of his mouth. He sighed. He appeared to be looking for something but merely shrugged.

"The name's Sanji, I'm the cook." He said in an uninterested tone. Nami glared at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I am Brook, pleased to make your acquaintance. Hopefully you will be able to join us for some tea and a couple of melodies." The skeleton man said in a regal voice.

I was unsure if his mouth was really moving or not. But I nodded, hesitantly accepting his offer at a hand shake.

Talk about a colorful collection of people. They looked like they belonged in a circus instead of on a pirate ship.

I held my stomach.

"I'm Bleu. Nice to meet you guys." I said in a nervous tone. Then I coughed. I focused my attention on the cloud floating above. It was a better alternative than meeting the eyes of all the inquisitive crew members.

Luffy shaded his eyes and looked around the deck.

"So Luffy, about my-"

"Where's Franky, Robin, and Zoro?"

_There are more?_

"The beautiful Robin's probably reading in her room. And Mr. Shitty Swordsmen was taking a shower earlier but he's probably busy too busy touching himself," Sanji gushed but scowled when regarding the other guy.

"Sanji," Nami hissed at his choice selection of words.

"Franky is working on a project right now . He said he would meet up with you later though." She assured me.

I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. I didn't want to meet any more new people I just wanted to lay in a bed and sleep off this seasickness.

The navigator turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I was taller than her, only by a couple of inches, so she angled her head up towards me.

"Sorry," Nami apologized once again. "You'll probably have to wait to meet the others, but we're glad that you're here."

She looked at the other crew mates expecting them to agree. Sanji was lighting his cigarette while Usopp was checking his watch. Brook, and Chopper however still remained intently staring at me. I wasn't actually sure if Brook was staring at me or not because well, he didn't have eyeballs but I would just have to assume.

"I said! We're all glad that Bleu is here." Nami growled through her clenched teeth in a chilling tone.

She seemed to take on a whole new persona that went from mildly friendly to intimidating and menacing. They all chipped up immediately, nodding their heads enthusiastically.

I gave a weak smile in return.

My stomach was really not feeling well.

These pirates looked nothing like how I had expected them to be. None of them seemed to be interested in killing or looting me yet, so that was always a good sign. They seemed more like travelers than anything else. But I knew looks could be deceiving. Pirates were still pirates no matter what they looked like.

_But Luffy did save my life…_

"So about my things-"

"Anyways, I'm sure you're probably tired." Nami interrupted.

"But we haven't even met everyone else yet. And Bleu still has to show us his mysterious weapon things." Luffy whined.

Nami sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "We're not all like you Luffy. Chopper can guide you to the men's quarters."

_Men's quarters? Is that where my stuff is?_

Chopper took my arm but I didn't budge from the group circle.

"Come on Mister Bleu, I'll show you to our bunk beds."

"I just hope you guys know I'm a girl so you don't have to call me mister..." I stated blatantly.

There was hush that fell upon the crew members.

A blank stare covered everyone's face; even Luffy's who I could have sworn I had told him I was a female earlier.

_Is it really that hard to figure out?_

My stomach lurched.

Chopper, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji's draw dropped in a comical manner. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes.

"O-Of course-I knew that!" Nami said quickly.

"You're a girl!" Luffy, of all people yelled in shock. Nami's fist quickly made contact with his head.

_Does this guy have short term memory loss?_

The vein in Nami's forehead enlarged and she huffed in a disapproving tone.

"But your hair is short!" Chopper pointed out innocently.

"Is this some type of unspoken rule or something?" I asked while unconsciously feeling my short brown hair.

I was a bit embarrassed over the attention, especially when my gender was involved.

"I knew there was something off about her, but to be sure…" The blonde haired man said reflectively.

The cook seemed to be staring at my chest area causing me to self consciously fold my arms across them. I looked up at the sun then closed my eyes and sighed.

_Only a few more weeks._

But a few weeks seemed so far away.

~ **End of Chapter**

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><p>Chapter Five Preview:<p>

**Arrgh! Pirates!**

"_Isn't it obvious?" Sanji leaned back in his chair._

"_She's a lesbian." He stated matter-of-factly._

"…_And you're an idiot." Nami snapped at his outlandish inquiry._

Release Date:

8/22

**Please feel free to comment. I'll even make sure to respond whether it be in the Author's comments or by personal message! :D**


	5. Arrgh! Pirates!

Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry for making you all wait so long! I know I said that I would have this chapter out by last Monday but… (School happened). I have come to the conclusion that I will have to upload each chapter every two weeks from now on (at the very latest).

Another note: This chapter is really really really long, for me at least. I was planning on breaking the chapter into two parts and releasing them separately but because I took so long to update I thought: "What the heck," You guys deserve a long chapter. So maybe this will make up for my tardiness.

Disclaimer: _I am not making any money off of this fanfiction involving the One Piece franchise. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump_.

_That is all._

Bon Appétit! (Enjoy!) :)

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><p><strong>Arrgh! Pirates!<strong>

Pirates.

My experiences with them had been a numbered few. Those select few experiences had not been pleasant either. From what I had learned through a couple of years of doing business with them was that they were impatient, smelly, greedy, hostile and loud. These were the stereotypes about pirates that had been ingrained in my mind from my childhood to young teenage years.

Pirates were also notoriously known for their lack of laws, which is understandable when they don't follow any in the first place. Some ships probably had some sort of code I assumed. If not they would be into total chaos. Some probably had punishments too. Luffy's crew however, did not seem to exhibit any of these characteristics.

All the members did as the pleased, from what I could observe yesterday, while their 'captain' spent his time eating, fishing, or goofing around. The crew was rarely stationed all in one spot. It was strange to adjust to this type of carefree lifestyle and lack of order.

After meeting the some of the pirates for the first time yesterday, Luffy had enthusiastically offered me a grand tour of the Thousand Sunny. I declined, making the excuse that I didn't feel all that well and would rather rest first. The young pirate captain didn't seem too upset like I had imagined but promised that he would come first thing in the morning and show me around anyways.

Lovely.

Afterwards, Nami showed me to the women's quarters. She apologized for the lack of beds, saying that she hadn't prepared in advance, and set up a hammock on the far side of the room for me to temporarily sleep in.

The room was nicely decorated comprising of a vanity set, a cherry oak closet, plush rug, three lavender sofa chairs, and various other objects and trinkets. Souvenir like articles that appeared to come from all over the Blue were scattered across the room. Some were weapons, some were old books, and some were exotic perfumes. The room was spotless, not a speck of dirt or a stray article of clothing littered the floor.

I was hesitant to even step inside for fear that my dirt caked boots and filthy hands would contaminate the entire room.

After placing my backpack in the corner of the room next to the hammock I was directed to the washrooms, where I was able to bath and remove all the dirt, soot, and sweat off my body.

Nami was kind enough to leave a robe and some night clothes, without request. For the rest of that day I spent my time in the women's quarters, in order to avoid Luffy or other crew mates and any possibly awkward 'getting–to–know-you' conversations. I was not interested in small chit chat and the like all I wanted was to get some sleep and gather my bearings.

Yet, sleeping was difficult to do of course being in a place foreign. It did not matter how tightly I closed my eyes and willed myself to relax. The feeling of paranoia kept me awake even after Nami had retired to her bed and another strange lady to hers. They had talked for a while in hushed whispers, but they soon went to their own bedsides, turning off the dim lamp light and leaving me awake in the dark.

Morning had come along with a loud knocking on the door.

It was Luffy.

Luffy was actually serious about his tour of the ship, to my surprise. I had barely any time to put on my raincoat before he carried me out of the room.

He had dragged me around the whole ship talking in his usual cheerful excited manner. I, sleep deprived and irritated, stumbled after him trying to pay attention or at least appear interested in what he had to say.

Knowing these possible escape routes could come in handy later.

During this tour I met Franky, the shipwright.

When I met him this morning, he was busy hammering away at something on his desk in the 'Weapon's Development Room'. Without looking up from his work he sucked his teeth and addressed Luffy, obviously used to Luffy's spontaneous interruptions of his work.

"What'cha need Straw Hat?" He asked.

"I brought Bleu!" He stated loudly. I felt him pull me from the hallway and into the room.

Franky put down his hammers and his nails and wiped his forehead with his large star tattooed arm. As he got up to his feet I realized how large of a man he was. His electric blue hair and cheesy flora printed shirt made him look eccentric to say the least. But his crazy sense of fashion could not compete with my attention as his lack of clothes did. To my horror he was without pants, leaving his broad chest and hairy legs and thighs for all to see with just a speedo covering his privates. Quickly I turned my head towards the floor boards in embarrassment.

_It is way too early in the morning for this!_

"Don't tell me this is same kid you stopped by to get?" The naked man scoffed as he crossed his hairy arms over his chest.

Luffy nodded and smiled.

"Bleu's going to be our Master Gunner person."

The older man looked me over through his dark shades. It was not just his gaze that made me feel uncomfortable or his large size. I was used to hefty people sizing me up.

But his choice of…clothing is what disturbed me the most, or more so his lack thereof. All he was wearing was an open flannel shirt and a tiny black speedo. The man did not express any sort of shame or humiliation. I looked over at Luffy who was not at all fazed with the indecent exposure standing before us.

_Is this only awkward for me?_

"Nice to meet cha'. I'm Franky, the shipwright." He held out his large hand for me to shake it. His grip was firm and cold almost like a piece of metal.

"I'm Bleu." I nodded, trying to keep my eyes on his face and not his lower body.

"Franky knows a lot about ships and making stuff. He built the Thousand Sunny himself so he can tell you all about our cannons." Luffy added admiringly.

"Great," I replied with mock enthusiasm.

Luffy's smiled widened, interpreting my reply as one of anticipation.

"I'll see you guys later. I'm going to eat."

Luffy left me and the half naked man in the room. Alone.

I found myself blushing profusely again. I couldn't help myself. My focus turned to the blank metal walls in the room. It was the only thing I could do to distract myself from his…nakedness. If I were going to be subjected to this type of nudity on a daily basis I was not sure I would survive.

As Franky and I toured the ship I got a good sense of what their weapons were like. Surprisingly the ship was pretty advanced for that of a pirate vessel. Everything seemed so complicated and well planned out. Franky gave me information on every nook and cranny and technical detail pertaining to the ship. It was obvious that he took great pride in his creation and the upgrades he had given it.

Even though I had never taken a liking to ships, the technical aspects that he described did interest me. I was even more surprised to find out he had built this ship in a mere seven days. It also helped that Franky came off as a naturally animated person making his presentations amusing to listen to.

"And this is where all the magic happens. All our weapons are modified here."

I looked at the half assembled cannon set up in the middle of Usopp's Factory Room. Stray parts and gizmos were laid all over the floor. There were other half finished projects pushed against the other side of the room that looked like someone had just given up on them all together and were now being used as coat racks.

Usopp crawled from underneath the mass of metal with a screwdriver in hand, and stepped into the light. He lifted his goggles to see who was coming entering.

"Oh, Franky and...Bleu? What are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"I just came to show Yellow Jacket here around. Luffy's says the kid knows a thing or two about guns." He affirmed folding his arms over his chest.

_Yellow Jacket? _

The blue haired man looked down at me and I looked up at him. We stared at each other for a second. There was a noticeable glower on his face but I was unsure if I was the one who had caused it or that was just how his face always looked. Usopp scratched the back of his head with his wrench, confused as to why there was such an uncomfortable silence that had befallen the room.

"Well?" Franky inquired.

"Well what?" I responded.

"Are we going to get to work or not?"

For a second I made the mistake of looking at him full on. My eyes darted back to his pronounced triple chin.

"What do you want _me_ to do?" I asked.

_Were they really going to put me to work already?_

Franky looked at me incredulously scrunching his eyebrows.

"You are the notorious Bleu aren't cha'?" He questioned mockingly.

"I mean, yeah, but I wouldn't call myself no-"

"If you're such a big shot Artillery Specialist like they say then start specializing, Yellow Jacket."

The way he said 'Yellow Jacket' made my body tense up. If anything he sounded like he was taunting me. Who did this guy think he was, doubting my ability.

"Fine," I said curtly.

Franky ignored my annoyed look and took a nearby screwdriver out of a tool box and threw it my way. A very dangerous thing to do, I might add. Yet I caught the familiar object with ease. The metallic tool molded to the callousness of my palm like a cork in a bottle.

Usopp leaned against the current scrap of metal he was working on. He puffed out his chest and patted the cannon in an endearing manner.

"Have no fear Bleu. I'm actually pretty good at building things myself-"

I pushed past him to get a better look at their current project.

"So what do you think?" Usopp asked.

I circled the object a few times, surveying it from all angles.

_Off by 2.5 millimeters._

I sighed with disapproval.

"It's wrong."

"Huh? What do you mean it's wrong?" Usopp asked unsure if he had heard me correctly.

It vexed me to no end to not have things symmetrically correct. Even though this weapon wasn't finished I could already tell it would be faulty. Weapons like cannons and guns had to be made perfectly. One couldn't afford to overlook such miniscule details. The safety of the user and the people surrounding them counted on it. One mistake could cost lives.

"The size, the placement, the material used. It just doesn't feel right." I couldn't help but to be verbally critical about these sorts of things. I guess it was just my nature.

I unscrewed one of the nails causing the half constructed cannon to fall in shambles.

"What the hell!" Usopp cried hysterically.

"That took forever to build!"

"You're going to have to start over." I said more to myself as I examined the different parts.

Usopp looked at what remained of his month long project helplessly. Franky seemed skeptical too but soon patted Usopp on the back.

"She's the Master Gunner now. Just do what she says."

I was in my element; raw materials, metal, and gunfire. I felt more at ease, if only slightly, working away with Usopp and Franky. I was hesitant to share my ideas about cannon design and weaponry. Eventually, I did give some helpful tips here and there and before I knew it I was working full throttle on designing future armaments. An hour of self-conscious yet productive work passed before I came back to my senses.

_What am I doing?_

My plans were to be involved as little as necessary and here I was helping these people construct things.

The sweat from concentration dripped down my brow and I wiped it away with the hem of my rain coat sleeve.

Usopp was busy observing my work and Franky was looking over my meticulously sketched drawings on the blue print paper.

"This looks pretty super Yellow Jacket. I'm impressed." Franky complimented as if he were grading a school paper.

I began putting up various tools in their toolboxes.

"It's just a rough sketch." I stated plainly.

"Rough sketch!" Usopp questioned while looking over the piece of paper. It had lines and seemingly unintelligible jottings written all over the place. There were numbers and complex equations written in various spaces and millions of smudges and eraser marks throughout. Any normal person looking on the page would think that it was just random chaotic scribbles.

There was a method to my madness of course. It was just really hard to see at times.

"This looks like it belongs in Leonardo Da Vinci's Diary."

I wanted to stay in the safety of Usopp's Factory but hunger wouldn't allow me. Yesterday, I had rejected the mere thought of food due to my ailment with the sea. Now the consequences of missing a whole day's meal was starting to take its toll. My stomach gurgled and a sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I mentally rejoiced when Franky brought up the idea of lunch time.

I walked upstairs to the deck following behind Usopp and in front of Franky so I wouldn't have to look from at him from behind. Luffy had told me during the tour that I was allowed to have anything I wanted, all I had to do was ask the crew's chef for food. The same guy who was also trying to stare at my boobs the other day.

My mind wandered back to food I was served on a ship a few years ago. It was not at all tasteful and the meals were consisted of of the same substance that looked like a cross between mystery meat and grey tofu. Not happy memories. But when you're starving even the vilest of foods could appear appetizing.

I was also hesitant to go for fear I might meet that guy who I accidentally walked in on. That would be embarrassing.

The breeze from the winds rustled my coat and brushed the dark brown bangs out of my eyes. My motion sickness had settled just a little, allowing walking around to be a bearable activity. The only thing I could see was water and sky and the horizon where they met they net in between. The deck was void of life forms.

We approached the kitchen, which was next to Chopper's Office that I was laying in a day or two before. The noise of chatter emanated from the door leading inside. My hand hovered over the door handle but Franky pushed forward causing me to fall through and stumble into the kitchen room. It appeared as if everyone I had met earlier was hanging out in the large dining room area.

The creepy skeleton man sat at the table with one of his legs crossed over the other. He seemed to be enjoying a fancy tea cup, whether he was aware or not, was just passing straight through his ribs and ending up on the floor.

Chopper was also seated at the table, but in a little booster seat, next to Luffy. Luffy was staring intently at Sanji who was behind the counter in the kitchen room, probably frying something. Sanji was too busy gazing affectionately at Nami to notice that his tie was starting to catch on fire. The pretty navigator sat next across from Luffy looking at her hand held telescope.

Then there was a new person I had not quite seen before. She sat a ways off from the table on a bench against the wall. The developed woman was engaged in the pages of a faded black book. Her eyes were concealed behind a silky curtain of onyx strands. She turned the page elegantly not at all interested in the scene before her.

Upon entering, Luffy turned to me.

He cracked a smile and jumped onto the table knocking over Chopper's plate of chocolate cake in the process. The medical doctor's defeated and anguished face was priceless as his bottom lip quivered at the mess on the floor. Luffy lifted up his cup and announced: "Bleu's here!"

Nami gave him an annoyed look covering her ears as she did so.

"Hi Luffy."

The sound of metal scrapping a frying pan halted as Sanji looked up to see what the commotion was for.

"I'm ready to eat!" Franky said walking over to the fridge. Usopp took a seat across from Chopper.

Nami turned to me glad to have another female enter the room.

"You're just in time. Sanji is almost finished." She smiled.

"Yeah! Me and Chopper were just about to arm wrestle! You want to join?" Luffy offered.

"Luffy will you shut up! Why would anyone want to arm wrestle you?" Nami countered.

I laughed nervously. Luffy was the last person I would want to arm wrestle with or engage in any physical contact with for that matter. I looked around the room for an empty seat and decided to take one on the other side of the table, across from Nami.

Sanji looked over at me slyly across the counter. He seemed to be frying something in a pan. I unconsciously took a deep breath inward. The scents lingering in my nostrils made my mouth water.

"So what have you guys been working on Bleu?" Nami asked casually. She leaned over the table holding her cheek in her dainty hand and smiled. The pink lipgloss on her lips glistened under the lamp light.

Usopp spoke up before I had a chance to.

"Just a new cannon for the ship." He tried to make it seem like his news was not really a big deal. Chopper, recovering from his loss of chocolate cake, became intrigued by this new information. Nami ignored Usopp's attempt for notice and kept her soft hazel eyes locked with mine. This made feel a bit uncomfortable and I twitched under her 'friendly' gaze.

"So where are you from?" She asked casually.

I contemplated on my response for a second.

"I'm from a small town, you probably wouldn't know about it."

"Is it near the sea?"

"Kind of," I shifted in my seat.

"It must be different for you living on a ship, huh?" She asked.

"I've worked on a ship before, so I know what it's like."

Nami raised her eyebrows.

"You've worked on a ship before?" She repeated.

"Were you doing artillery related work there too?" She added. She leaned in closer to me and I could smell the scent of citrus fruit radiating from her skin.

"Sort of, but it was a while ago."

"Before you started your business?"

"I wouldn't remember." I lied.

_Why was she asking me so many questions?_

"Interesting," She remarked, looking off at nothing in particular. Then she turned back to me and gave a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry; I'm being kind of noisy." She apologized.

"It's fine," I assured her and waved my hand.

_As long as you don't ask any more._

"The food is ready." Sanji announced. Luffy's face brightened at the good news and so did mine, happy to have avoided the intuitive questions of Nami. My stomach growled in anticipation ready for a meal. Sanji waltzed into the dining room area wearing an apron over his black suit that read: "KISS THE COOK" in bold letters. He carried a covered silver platter and placed it on the table carefully.

As soon as it hit the table cloth Luffy lunged at the object with eagerness but Sanji swiftly kicked him in the face knocking the young pirate out of the way. The blonde haired cook lifted the cover and instantly the entire room was hit with a wave of fragrance as the heat radiated from the food bowl.

"Seafood noodle soup, Veracruz style," He announced.

The pot was brimming with clams, shrimp, and various other little vegetables and crab parts. The components weren't just dumped into the mixture mindlessly but were placed so that they decorated the top of the soup in a cute little design. My breath left my body as I gazed in amazement at the appetizing dish.

Sanji began serving us each a bowl.

"For the beautiful Ms. Nami." He placed a filled bowl carefully in front of her, even going as far as to scrap off some cheese with a grater and sprinkle it over her dish.

"And for the newbie," He placed my bowl in front of me.

"Ms. Bleu," He winked at me before fixing a bowl for himself.

I blinked, unsure of how to respond to his wink but simply mumbled a 'thanks'. It baffled me how this guy's behavior could suddenly change from being uninterested to being completely gentlemen-like. It made me wonder why his behavior changed depending on who he was talking to.

"Would you like anything Ms. Robin." Sanji asked sweetly. The isolated women sitting on the sofa merely shook her head, not tearing her eyes away from her book.

Sanji seemed a bit disappointed by this and frowned.

"I'd like some Seafood noodle sou-"

"Get your own shit." Sanji cut off Usopp and took a seat next to Nami. Luffy and Brook ran to the pot filling their bowls to the brim and Franky followed behind them. I looked at my own bowl. The warmth tickled my chin.

For some reason I wasn't feeling as hungry as I was before and my hunger pains had passed. I looked at Luffy who was literally inhaling the soupy liquid before him.

"Excuse me, I'm going to go outside and eat."

I pushed back my chair and picked up my bowl of soup.

"Oh, no problem," Nami called after me. Luffy had not seemed to notice my departure as he was too occupied in consuming his food and neither did anyone else. Except for Chopper who shyly waved me good bye.

I shuffled out the room, holding my bowl of soup carefully in both hands while trying to hold onto to my spoon. I didn't really like being surrounded by a lot of people for such long periods of time. It unnerved me.

All I needed was some fresh air and time to think.

Perspective of Nami

I watched as Bleu hurried out of the room carrying her meal with her.

I couldn't quite understand the reason why Luffy had been so bent on recruiting this girl in the first place. He was never the type to have specific goals or anything. Or even have any special destinations planned. But for some reason he had raved about how we needed a someone to man our cannons and such and that he had heard of the best person for this job.

I admit we may have needed those types of things to be taken care of but I didn't see why Usopp or Franky couldn't handle it. Franky was a technological genius and had already built this ship from scratch along with the weaponry we already have. Usopp was knowledgeable as well and could easily create any type of weapon we needed.

So why did Luffy find it necessary to recruit this person? I'd heard of the name Bleu but I didn't think she was that well known. Could she really be more proficient than what we already have or was there an ulterior motive for recruiting her?

I looked over at Luffy slyly. He had his face stuffed into his bowl and was slurping and gurgling loudly.

I made a disappointed grunt at his lack of table manners.

_Everything is simple with this guy. Why would he possibly have any ulterior motives? _

_But still…_

I couldn't help my feelings of uncertainty around our newest recruit. Of course I was used to secretive behavior of Robin and the isolated manner of Zoro but I knew them well enough. Bleu I was not familiar with and she did not necessarily give off any 'friendly' vibes. It did not help that she was a difficult person to read and that she always seemed to be hiding something.

Her eyes were the most off putting though. The way her dark eyebrows rested atop her down turned eyes made her look like she was always in thought. Coupled with that calculating expression on her face and the way her harsh granite colored eyes glinted in the light. Her expression rendered me unable to tell if she was irritated, content, or even paying attention.

These were just my own opinions though, as it seemed that everyone else did not have a problem with having a new member on the team.

I also could not doubt the decisions of my captain, even if he usually tends to make very idiotic ones. If Luffy recruited her, he must have been very sure of his choice.

"Would you like some more to drink Nami-chan?" Sanji asked in his suave voice.

"Yes," I replied automatically.

He refilled my glass with more sake and cleared my plate. I didn't notice though because my thoughts were too focused on Bleu.

I decided Usopp would be the best choice for more information. He and Franky probably had spent the most time with her.

"Usopp," I said, getting his attention. He turned from his conversation with Chopper.

"Yes?" He asked hesitantly, suspecting of my kind tone.

"What's Bleu like?"

He scratched his long nose and looked at the table for a second.

"She's…okay."

"What do you mean she's okay? You just spent all morning working in your factory together didn't you?"

"All we talked about were plans for cannons. She didn't really talk about anything else." He said defensively.

_Men. I should have known better to get any good gossip out of them._

"Cannons! I wanna see!" Luffy yelled out.

I glared at him for his interruption.

"They won't be ready for a while, Luffy." Usopp replied.

"What I mean is, what is her personality like?"

"Oh, well she's…nice. She seems to know a lot too..."

_Nice has probably got to be the worst descriptive word in the whole entire language!_

"She does seem like the rather reclusive type. I wonder why?" Brook remarked swallowing some more of his herbal tea.

I tucked my orange hair strands behind my ear and tapped on the table impatiently.

"She hasn't wanted to hang out with us." Chopper said a bit gloomily. He twiddled with his hooves under the table.

I heard Sanji chuckle lowly to himself in the kitchen.

"What's so funny?" I asked inquisitively.

"It's just funny that you guys don't see it."

"See what?" Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and I asked collectively.

Sanji threw his towel into the dishwasher and took a seat in one of the dining room chairs. We all watched him anxiously as he kicked up his feet on the table and took out a lighter to light one of his cigarettes.

_Was there something that he knew that we didn't know?_

"Isn't it obvious?" He spoke finally. Everyone in the room seemed to be moving in closer to him.

"I've met chicks like her before. Short hair, baggy clothing, tomboyish looks. I could sense it the first day she came."

"Sense what?" I urged. We waited as Sanji built the suspense, taking pleasure in having us waiting at his feet.

"She's a lesbian." He stated matter-of-factly.

There was silence.

"…And you're an idiot." I sat back in my seat regretfully.

_I really did live with a bunch of idiots. _

Usopp rubbed his chin in a contemplative manner.

"Now that I think about it-"

"Just because she has short hair doesn't make her a lesbian, and I don't see what her sexuality has to do with anything." I opposed.

_Then again, she did seem pretty closed off to the idea that we would be sleeping all in one room…_

Sanji did not respond but merely shrugged his shoulders.

"What's a lesbian?" Luffy asked innocently, with Chopper nodding in agreement.

"It's a girl who likes other gi-," Usopp began.

I reached out across the table and punched Usopp in his face. My fellow pirates seemed to lack the ability to filter what came out of their mouths sometimes.

"Don't worry about it Luffy." I said.

Perspective of Bleu

My stomach gurgled loudly.

_Don't worry I'll feed you._

I caught one of the noodles hanging out of the bowl with my mouth as I walked down the hallway towards the deck. The noodle was blistering and I immediately reprimanded myself for slurping it too quickly. Besides the heat, from what I tasted it was the best well seasoned noodle I had ever eaten. I couldn't wait to try the crab meat and the shrimp.

As I neared the door to the outside my boot caught on an upraised plank on the floor. The rest of my body fell forward.

My precious soup flew out of my fingertips and directly to the door. At the same time of my decent to the ground the door opened from the outside. I didn't know what to think in those select few moments. All I remembered was whispering a string of curses and watching helplessly as the man entering was showered in a rainfall of shrimp, noodles, soup, and crab meat. The bowl landed on his head and the rest of its containments ran down his body.

"What the hell!" The deep voice growled in shock. I looked up from my position in front his feet to his face. He was steaming, literally and figuratively and all I could do in response was laugh nervously.

_Why me?_

~ **End of Chapter**

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><p>Chapter Six Preview:<p>

**Follow the Stars**

_Luffy looked at me with glittering in his eye. It lit he darkness surrounding us. For the firs time he looked serious and focused as he said his words slowly to me._

"_My dream, is to become king of the pirates."_

_I would have laughed. I would have called him an 'idiot' and walked away. _

_But I didn't. _

_Because I knew what it was like to have dreams and aspirations. His words were so heartfelt and honest. It was obvious that he believed in what he said and it made me want to believe in him too._

Release Date:

9/10

**Yeah! You all made it to the end! Please feel free to tell me what you think. Do you like how the story so far? Do you like the main character? Are you excited for the next chapter?  
><strong>


	6. Follow The Stars

Author's Note: Howdy folks! And sorry for the wait! This chapter is also a lot longer than I intended it to be. Oh well.

Disclaimer: _I am not making any money off of this fanfiction involving the One Piece franchise. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump_.

Magtamasa! (Enjoy!) :)

**Follow the Stars**

I rose slowly from the hard wood floor.

The young man's broad shoulders were tensed and his hands were wiping the mixture from his face. He removed the soup bowl from his head.

I stood there just watching, until something in my brain clicked alerting me to the unpleasantness of the situation.

"I'm sorry!" I said quickly holding my hands up in defense. His spiteful dark eyes smoldered with contained rage but they soon resided to a cool dull color. The tall man used his arm to wipe the soup from his eyes. I unzipped my rain jacket, momentarily uncaring to the fact that I only wore a purple tank top underneath and slid it off my shoulders. Then I attempted to blot off the excess fluid that had soaked into his white shirt. It didn't work out so well, being that the jacket was made of nylon which is not the most absorbent of materials.

He held up his hand in a signal to stop.

"I didn't mean to…" I continued.

But I complied with his hand motion and stood a ways back from him as he dried himself off with my jacket. His once white t-shirt now colored with spots of russet soup emanated a salty dish odor.

After he was done wiping off his face he handed me back my coat. His intimidating glower did not leave my face and his mouth hardened into a rigid line. There was a flicker of intense emotion behind his features as he observed me but it soon dissolved into slight annoyance.

Panic rendered me unable to speak but I swallowed the knot in my throat anyways.

"Here, I'll go get some more-"

"It's fine," His brusque deep voice cut me off.

Something like recognition passed over his face causing him to relax and his gaze to take on a more impartial expression. A weighty sigh passed his lips and he closed his eyes for a moment, relieving me of their antagonizing look.

"But I can-"

"I said it's fine, just watch where you're going next time," His voice was controlled and whatever underlying emotion I had seen before had slipped from his body.

Embarrassment washed over my body as I mentally berated myself for being so ungainly. Not only had I spilt hot soup all over the most intimidating member of the crew, but I wasted a perfectly good meal. Another sigh left his mouth. He placed his hands in the pockets of his black loose pants made his way to the kitchen area.

I watched as he left wondering if I should trail after him or not.

But why should I care? He obviously didn't want my apology. I wouldn't too if someone had just spilt scalding hot soup on me.

I groaned.

_Why me?_

As I walked back to the lower deck I became conscious of something. The lofty figure with the sea green hair had looked familiar.

Then the vivid images of a naked gentleman flooded my memory.

Could they have possibly been the same guy? They sure fit the similar body profile. And if it wasn't Sanji I had seen then it must have been him. Who else has green hair?

Aside from that horrifyingly embarrassing moment in which I was sure I had made my first enemy among the crew, nothing worth noting happened at all that day. I went straight to 'sleep', or at least I tried to go to sleep. Ultimately, I just lay in bed staring up at the golden encrypted floral border that lined the ceiling.

I expected the next day to optimistically be no different. Avoiding an unwanted meeting with the green haired guy was at the top of my list. However, life rarely tends to go my way.

As I walked across the deck I saw my victim relaxing against the mast of the ship. Normally I would have gone the opposite direction but I felt the need to set things straight between us. I needed to confirm that he held no grudge against me to give myself some piece of mind. A flush began to build up in my face but I filled my thoughts with things like old rotten cheese.

_Remember, this is just a guy. He's not going to bite your head off._

Yet he had looked so angry at that time, rightfully so. And he just had this certain aura that radiated off of him. I might wake him.

My boots clonked against the hardwood floor as I neared him and it made me wince in childish fear hat

I stood next to him. He did not address me nor did he give any recognition that he was aware of my presence. His eyes were closed and his hands were placed behind his head.

_Maybe he's a heavy sleeper. _

I coughed but still no answer.

"Hey," I said a bit louder.

"What?" He replied without opening his eyes.

I opened my mouth before closing it again.

_What could do I say?_

Being socially able was never a word that described me. I was about action not communication.

"Sorry for…you know. I didn't mean it. I'm Bleu by the way." I said in an effort to be somewhat affable.

"Don't worry about it. You said it was just an accident, right?"

The green haired man got up from his position on the floor and walked away with his hands shoved in his pockets.

_Well that went over well._

I walked back towards the Woman's Quarters unsure if the overall situation could be labeled as a failure or a success. I had apologized, and he had accepted it, therefore it must have been a success.

Then why was there still this feeling of unease when I thought about him, as if I thought he was still mad at me.

I pushed through the doors and entered the room. The smell of peachy citrus filled my nostrils, alerting me to the occupant residing inside. Nami was rummaging through a wooden box when I came in but her attention quickly turned to me.

_Curses!_

There was no reason to dislike Nami. She was an all around welcoming person, when the guys weren't acting moronic. So it was probably the fact that she was too welcoming that made me anxious. She held a map and a miniature telescope under her arm.

"Bleu, good to see you." She greeted.

"You too," I said making a subtle beeline to my bag in the corner of the room.

"I heard you spilt food on Zoro."

My hand paused over the bag's zipper.

_How did she hear that?_

"Uh, yeah I had tripped." I said embarrassedly.

She smiled sympathetically. I couldn't tell if it was genuine.

"Well don't worry too much about it. Zoro may seem mean with his whole cool guy act and all but he's actually a pretty decent guy. Once he gets to know you better I'm sure he'll warm up."

I highly doubted this was true but I kept this belief to myself and plainly nodded. She looked at me as if wanting to say more.

"Robin and I are going to hang out in the Observatory room, did you want to come?" She offered.

I picked up my bag and slung it over my left shoulder.

"Maybe later," I told her. She nodded.

The last thing I wanted to do was have 'girl-talk' time.

"I'll see you afterward then."

"Mhm,"

Usopp's Factory Room was currently empty. All that populated it were inanimate pieces of metal and I, who sat at Usopp's desk overlooking one of my crudely drawn plans and comparing scraps of material.

I didn't mind the silence. Working on my own was something that I was used to. Luffy had inquired as to why I preferred to stay downstairs. To his answer I had responded that I liked it better in Usopp's Factory and that being away from everyone else was the only way I could work. This wasn't exactly true of course. There were a number of reasons why I did not want to come up on deck with everyone else. I

would rather avoid seeing Franky naked, or be reminded of having seen the green haired man who I had come to know whose name was Zoro, naked and I was not the best when it came to socializing in big groups. Everyone looked so happy together, it would feel unnatural for me to just come into the fray.

It wasn't that the crew members gave off an unlikeable vibe, for the most part; it was just that I…

I…

There was a large rumbling on the main floor of the deck. I ignored it, seeing as the bunch was always doing something strange and disruptive up above. Then the ceiling shook again. There was a sickening creak on the floor boards over head.

_What could they possibly be doing to make all that noise?_

There was a rumble again but this time much more intense. Dirt from the ceiling fell and a speck flew into my eye. I cried out in irritation.

"What the hell?" I growled to myself.

I rubbed my eye trying to relieve myself of the itchiness. At that same moment the sound of footsteps quickly approached.

"Hey Bleu!" Luffy ran down the flight of steps and into the room. He knocked over a shelf of tools that clattered to the floor but I was too occupied to notice.

"What," I said in frustration trying to rub the dirt out of my eye.

"Usopp is going to teach us some fishing tricks. You want to come?" He grinned.

Finally the pain seemed to subside from the irritation in my eye and I wiped the tear falling from my face.

I pretended to be in great conflict over the manner before responding with a 'no, thanks'.

"But were fishing." Luffy added. He raised his eyebrows and nudged me in the side of my rib cage retaining his childish grin. His attempt to persuade me with the offer of fishing went unobserved though.

"I don't know how to fish," I lied.

Luffy's mouth fell agape and he looked at me with unbelief.

"You don't know how to fish!"

His shocked expression alarmed me.

"Uh,"

"You can't be a pirate and not know how to fish!"

I simply shrugged holding back the urge to crack a smile at Luffy's outrageous manner. Luffy crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brow. A look of mock determination overtook his visage. It unnerved me for a second, because the expression was such a deviation from his normal happy-go-lucky appearance.

"I have to teach you how to fish." He said definitively.

"You don't have to do that." I tried to assure him but he wasn't listening. I came to know that when Luffy's mind was set on something it didn't change. I gave in and let Luffy drag my body up the stairs and to the deck, realizing that he would make me go up there sooner or later.

The sun was covered by a thin sheet of clouds filtering the intensity of its rays. Sea gulls cawed loudly as they passed the boat in flocks. The wind whipped around the Thousand Sunny's Jolly Roger flag with ease.

Nami and Robin sat at a bar area stationed near the tail end of the boat. They both seemed to be involved in a light conversation. Sanji stood behind the bar stools, staring longingly at both equally beautiful women. Brook sat at the end of the bar strumming a random assortment of chords on his ukulele, while Franky was busy inspecting a piece of wood that had fallen off the ship. An eruption of laughter sounded from the bar as Robin calmly whispered a comment on Franky's attire.

My hand unknowingly tightened around Luffy's, which I hurriedly disbanded. The captain ran over to the side of the deck where Usopp and Chopper stood.

"Did you guys catch anything yet?" Luffy asked excitedly as he leaned dangerously over the side of the boat.

"We haven't even started yet." Usopp yelled.

Usopp took out his fishing rod and launched it into the air with as much force as his tanned thin arms could throw. The bobber soared a measly four feet through the sky and landed with a plop into the water underneath. Chopper set up his own fishing station. He used an upside down bucket as a stool and climbed on top of it carrying his miniature sized fishing rod which appeared to have been bought from a toy store.

"Fishing Master Usopp, can you show me how to put my line out?"He asked humbly.

Usopp puffed with pride at the chance to show off his 'expertise' to his new student.

"Well," He began by taking Chopper's rod in his own hands. Luffy took the bucket of fish bait and poured out its contents on the ground. He inspected the worms for a short time, and then plucked out the biggest one he could find. I stood beside him with arms crossed and watched as he stuck the anthropoda to his sorry excuse for a fishing rod, which was comprised of a stick and a piece of string.

"You don't really expect to catch anything with that do you?"

Luffy looked over at me in confusion.

"Of course I do." He said.

"But the body of your rod is too thin. It'd snap under the weight of a goldfish. You won't be able to support a fish with it."

Then I looked up at the sky, which wasn't as bright as it was yesterday.

"And it's not the right weather for fishing anyways."

"You won't catch any fish when you think that way." The boy remarked. Then he continued with a grin on his face.

"My fishing rod is lucky, so I know I'll catch a fish." I had to give him credit. Luffy was confident in the abilities of his poorly crafted fishing pole.

He was in deep concentration, or as concentrated as he'll ever be, as he threw out his line into the water.

"Now when you fish you have to make sure you're in a good spot with a lot of sun, because fish like sunny spots." He began to inform me. It was quite funny actually, since Luffy was the last person I'd expect to be teaching me anything.

I looked around. There was someone missing from this little joyful group.

And he lay quietly against the railing of the ship. His arms were placed casually behind his head similar to a position that he had taken before. Even though his eyes were closed and he lay in such a lackadaisical manner, his eyebrows were pushed together as if there was some other activity going on in his brain besides resting.

He stirred in his arrangement and opened one of his eyes. He looked at me with a sort of apathy bordering on disdain, and then got up. I was confused. I had already tried to apologize to him about before. I even went out of my way to do it. Yet all he does is continue to look angry.

"Mr. Zoro, where are you going?" Chopper asked while struggling with the line of his fishing rod.

"Training," He grunted.

I watched him silently as he rubbed the back of his neck sluggishly and walked toward the end of the ship. I averted my gaze to the out-of-place nail sticking up from the floor board as he passed by. His shoulder just barely grazed mine and for a moment a tingly feeling resonated at that exact spot.

Breathing in the salt tainted air I ambled closer to the edge of the ship. It was a bit exhilarating as I was not the biggest fan of water even when I found myself constantly having to travel on it.

"Now Chopper, with fishing it's all in the soul." Usopp began.

Chopper nodded his head in agreement as he listened to Usopp attentively.

"You need to breathe in the sea and become one with it." He motioned out towards the Big Blue and placed his hand endearingly to his heart, a movement that Chopper soon repeated.

"Become one with the sea." The little moose chanted to himself.

I listened with a skeptical look on my face. It amused me how the young doctor was so easily taken away by the antics of Usopp.

"Hey Bleu! You can use Zoro's rod."

"What? That's not a good idea Luffy."

Luffy handed me the fishing rod and I took it begrudgingly.

"All you have to do is put it in the water and wait for the bobbing thingy to move. Let me show you."

He placed his own 'rod' against the rail and took Zoro's into his own. Then Luffy lunged back and threw out the line as far as it could go. The red bobber attached to the hook whizzed through the air and landed with a plunk a good distance from the ship.

I was impressed at that distance, knowing that I would have never been able to release a line that far out. He handed me back the rod and went back to his own.

"What do we do now Fishing Master Usopp?" Chopper asked.

"We wait," He responded.

Luffy leaned over the edge of the ship staring intently at the water below.

The straw hat pirate looked over at my line, which lay still amongst the waves of the ocean.

"Did you catch anything yet?" Luffy asked.

"No, I didn't," I said slowly.

A minute passed by.

"Did you catch anything yet?" Luffy asked again.

"No," I sighed.

Thirty seconds passed by.

"How about now?"

"Luffy! We've only been out here for a couple of minutes!"

I turned to him. His face was hopeful and innocent. It made me feel at fault when I held any level of ill feelings towards Luffy. He had only been nothing but helpful and overly friendly since saving me from Cheery Dock.

"Okay," He responded. The captain fidgeted in his spot next to me, tugging at the string connected to his stick impatiently.

_Why did I agree to this?_

Usopp broke the silence.

"Did I ever tell you guys about the time I caught the…loch ness monster?"

"You caught the loch ness monster!" Chopper's face lit up like a Christmas tree and Luffy face took on an expression of amazement, glad that something had interrupted the lack of excitement.

Usopp nodded and grinned to himself.

"Tell us the story!" Chopper begged. Luffy handed me his pole to watch as he closed near Usopp. I took it with a sigh, placing my own against the rail.

"Well I don't want to toot my own horn or anything but…" The long nosed male waved his hand humbly. This only made the two more interested.

Usopp's 'modest' demeanor soon changed as he began to dive into his tale.

"So there I was beaten and starving, 500 miles out at sea. It was raining with winds going a 100 miles per hour. My boat, a spear, a paperclip and a worm, was all I had…"

_A hundred miles per hour? What a load of crap._

I blocked out the rest of his story and stood impatiently holding the rod. Standing around and waiting was not my idea of a good time. It reminded me of my job before handling cannons that required me to be able to fish. I loathed it. All that time wasted on fishing could have been spent on something useful.

Recollections of being made to stand out in the harsh weather with my hands frozen to a stick made me shiver.

I stared at the pole with resentment.

"…And then he got away. And from this day if you look under his right fin, you can see my initials."

Usopp had finished his chronicle, leaving both Chopper and Luffy to wallop in his fantasized glory.

The urge to leave and go back to the darkness of the rooms below boiled up in my stomach again.

"Did you catch anything yet?" Luffy asked once returning back to me.

_Does it look like I caught anything?_

I shook my head.

Usopp sighed. "I guess they're just not biting today."

"But we caught so many yesterday," Luffy whined.

"Maybe next time…" I tried to assure the disappointed pirate.

_Besides, I have better things to do-_

I was literally pulled out of my thoughts as the line tightened and slammed me against the rail.

"Ow," Was my shocked reply.

"What are you doing hanging over the edge of the ship Bleu?" Luffy asked.

"I don't kn-"

My hands still held the stick as I once again crashed into the ship's wall.

Chopper awoke from his daze and he and Usopp ran over to me.

"Ms. Bleu!" Cried Chopper holding his hooves to his cheeks.

Realization dawned on Luffy as he understood.

"You caught a fish! Hold on Bleu!" He yelled encouragingly.

_Hold on?_

"My arms are going tobe ripped from their sockets!" I struggled to protest. But still my hands remained around the fishing pole. The force pulling on the opposite side of the string dragged me nearly over the edge. My heart plummeted as I felt my body being pulled over board.

An elastic arm prevented me from falling.

"Don't let go," Luffy said again. He held the stick from behind, placing his warm hands on top of my own. I felt my back fall against his torso as he helped me pull in the line. Luffy's uneven and eager breaths tickled my cheek and caused me to crane my face away in unease.

_Why was he so warm?_

I could only focus on the way the moist air from Luffy's lips irritated my skin. Even as I felt the wooden stick almost give under the weight and as Chopper and Usopp both came to my aid. The pulling had stopped and the line was brought in, revealing a relatively large sword fish. The creature landed hard on the wooden floor and flopped around if not majestically against the floorboards swinging its tail and sharp nose. Chopper danced around the creature with joy, being careful not to get too close.

Luffy sprinted over to the fish, drooling with excitement. A smile spread across his face as he looked back at me.

"I told you this rod was lucky." The boy held up his two fingers in a victorious peace sign motion.

I fell to the floor, my arms burning with the strain from the powerful fish. I had not let go of the rod as my hands were still clutched tightly around it.

I half smiled.

"Yea," I said breathlessly. And that was all I could say for a long time.

We didn't eat the swordfish thankfully. Even though Luffy and Usopp really wanted too. I didn't have the heart to eat the creature. Especially after it had looked me in the eyes as we were unhooking the fishing pole from its mouth.

It wasn't that I was a vegetarian or anything but I could have sworn some type of psychic connecting moment had transpired between the majestic fish and I, during which he had looked at me pleaded for his freedom. I had been unable to resist the depressing look in his murky blue eyes.

This marine animal had a strong will to live. As a person who had been caught in her own deal of life or death situations, I could relate to the fish's plight.

So, after a bit of persuasion, Luffy and Usopp sorrowfully released the fish back into the water where it fell and landed into the blue with a splash. The fish had looked around for a moment, trying to recollect itself from the traumatic event and then quickly swam away.

In the depths of the sea another fish seemed to flop out of the air in tandem with the other sword fish. I thought it abnormal that there was an additional sword fish out in the sea. Sword fish are not the types to migrate in flocks.

It leaped out of the water in the distance turning on its side and moving its fin as if waving goodbye. But I knew that this couldn't be true.

Fish didn't experience those types of feelings such as thankfulness, joy and love. They were animals that operated on a survival need basis.

At least, that is what I had always believed.

To make up for the lost catch I had 'promised' Luffy that I would stay out a little longer with him or until we caught a fish of equal value. That 'little longer' turned into the whole day in which we didn't catch anything, except for an old soggy boot, and bottle with a letter addressing someone's secret admiree.

I had complained all day. Seeing how Luffy was making excuses to keep me out here. Many times I had pledged to leave, but my threats of desertion remained empty, and I stood near Luffy snickering as he made his brainless yet amusing jokes and such.

The sun had set and a dark veil of blackness and glittery stars descended upon the sky.

Mixed feelings of impatience, because he had managed to keep me out here all day long, and content ran through my body. I had never 'spoken' to someone for such a long period of time before, even if the conversations' subjects were about useless things.

_I can't believe I've spent all this time fishing with Luffy of all people._

"I'm going to bed Luffy," I said with a little bit more attitude than intended.

"Hm," He said.

I watched him as he sat Indian style atop of the ship's railing.

_Was he really just going to let me leave? _

The boy with the straw hat was watching the sea, no longer interested with the well being of his fishing rod. A breeze blew through the sky tickling my exposed lower legs to the cold. Luffy held onto his straw hat more tightly. His face took on a more thoughtful expression.

"Luffy?"

"Hm?"

I wanted to ask him a question, one that had been bugging me in the back of my mind since I had arrived here.

"Why are you a…pirate?"

The question may have been too broad but I could not see any other way to phrase it.

Luffy grinned that brilliant big smile of his.

"Because it's fun," He said in a wryly tone.

I sighed and ran a hand through my short deep brown tresses.

"I mean, what are you trying to do here? What are you looking for?" I motioned out to the ship.

"For One Piece."

"Oh,"

Everyone has heard of the legendary One Piece. The mysterious treasure left behind by the late Gol D. Roger, the most notorious pirate of them all. Many pirates I have come across have boasted about how they would be the first to lay hands on it, and what things they would possibly buy with its value. I didn't quite comprehend the point of risking one's life for such an obscure and possibly unattainable object. But I wasn't surprised that Luffy had stated this as his goal. Money was what every pirate looked for. It was in their nature.

For some reason I was disappointed. Maybe I had expected him to be looking for something…other than what everyone else was after.

"But why?" I heard myself ask. I couldn't be satisfied with just that answer.

The captain stood up on the rail and hopped down onto deck. He fixed his straw hat atop his messy black hair.

"Everyone here has their own dreams that they're following."

"But we're all working together to help everyone else's dreams come true and we have to find One Piece to do it."

There was silence as I reviewed his words over in my brain.

_Dreams?_

"So is becoming rich your dream?" I questioned.

Luffy looked at me with a glittering in his eye. It lit the darkness surrounding his face. For the first time, he looked serious and focused as he told me his aspiration.

"My dream," He repeated.

"-is to become king of the pirates."

I would have laughed. I would have called him an 'idiot' and walked away.

But I didn't.

Because I knew what it was like to have dreams and aspirations. The way his words effortlessly slipped from his mouth were so heartfelt and honest. It was obvious that he believed in what he said and it made me want to believe in him too.

"Interesting," Was the only thing I could say.

This whole time I had been under the impression that Luffy was just another aspiring pirate out on a joyride. Who knew that he had such big plans?

Luffy smiled.

"What's your dream?"

The inquiry startled me.

"Uh," I looked around. My mind had drawn a blank as I tried to come up with something to say.

What dream could possibly even contend with a dream as big as Luffy's?

There was a time during my childhood when I thought this way. When I looked starry eyed and professed about the great future I had in store.

Now my life has been comprised of living from day to day. It was difficult to believe that I had some great purpose or calling, or even motivation.

This realization made caused uneasiness in my stomach. I flushed under the moonlight as I stared at Luffy.

"I don't…"

Luffy placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Everyone has a dream. You just have to find it."

I gave Luffy a confused look but he merely smiled in return.

"I promise when you find your dream I'll help you make it come true!" Luffy said boldly.

The boy made a fist with his hand and placed it in the other before him. I stared at his Luffy's youthful face, paying special attention to the scar under his left eye.

"You're an idiot Luffy," I mumbled under my breath as I turned to go to the women's quarters.

_He doesn't know anything about me._

That night, I barely slept.

Chapter Seven Preview:

**The Unexpected Detour**

_The emotions displayed on everyone's faces ranged from gravity to dread, save for Luffy whose face was an odd mixture of marvel and exhilaration. I knew that face before and nothing good ever followed when it was made. _

_I scanned the dock for the other crew mates. Usopp was nowhere to be found and Nami and Chopper were bracing themselves a safe distance away peering out the window._

"_Could someone please tell what's going on?" I asked hysterically._

Release Date:

9/26

**Please feel free to comment. I'll even make sure to respond whether it be in the Author's comments or by personal message! :D**


	7. The Unexpected Detour

Author's Note: What's up Guys! I'm glad I had this out in time but it was kind of done in a bit of a rush. Sorry. So excuse an silly errors.

Disclaimer: _I am not making any money off of this fanfiction involving the One Piece franchise. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump_.

**Furahia**! (Enjoy!) :)

* * *

><p><strong>The Unexpected Detour<strong>

"_Stop!" _

_My hand trembled as I head the small glass tube in my fingers. My mind wasn't functioning. It wasn't registering. My limbs had a mind of their own as they propelled my body to the container to the far right of the room. _

_I stopped before the container, my hand ready to pour the explosive substance out of the tube. _

"_Bleu!" The deep voice had changed. It was higher pitched and grainy, like that of a boy going through puberty. _

_I turned around and at the foot of the steps was a figure covered by darkness. He stepped out into the light, head first. His straw hat covered his face from view, creating an ominous shadow in its stead. Then I saw his red open shirt and those raggedy blue jean capris. _

"_Don't do it. You'll kill yourself." The voice was unnaturally calm for the situation. The words were familiar but he hadn't been the original person to say them._

"_I have to." I responded solemnly._

"_Leave me alone. I can take care of myself." I added in irritation._

_The figure did not move. He simply stood and watched._

_I poured the substance into the tube and a fume of smoke erupted from it. The fuming stopped momentarily and my beating heart calmed. Suddenly a spark of light ignited from the container. _

_A loud explosion sounded and the light engulfed my body. My body was carelessly forced backward, and my arms flailed helplessly as I searched for something to cling to. There was a scream. It was loud and shrill but someone's voice stuck out subtly amongst the chaos and the light. _

"_Bleu," The childish voice whispered._

_Then the voice changed again._

"_Bleu?" It was a women's voice now._

Light spilled into my eyelids as the blur of the room came into view. Something or someone was hovering over me blocking the light from the chandelier.

"Bleu?" The voice was drenched in concern.

I scrunched my eyes together trying to discern what was happening. Nami's fair peachy face came into view. Her hazel eyes bore into my own as she leaned over my body laying in the hammock. The smell of citrus fruit entered my nostrils and inadvertently brought me back to reality.

_What's going on?_

"Are you okay?"

She asked.

"Uh,"

Why would she be asking if I'm okay?

My hands unconsciously traveled to my face and felt the skin. I was sweating and I had been breathing hard too.

"We woke up and you were screaming." She stated in astonishment.

"Robin and I thought you were being attacked."

"Oh," I swallowed and felt my cheeks being to flush. That had been me who was screaming.

"Sorry, I… I guess I was dreaming,"

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"No, I just-," I shook my head.

"I just need some air,"

Nami looked at me questioningly. Her eyes then gazed across my arms. I felt bare. I was only in a black tank that barely covered my breasts and I had on some of Nami's old shorts. It had been extremely hot and humid last night. Even by my own standards.

Nami's eyes shifted from my face to arm. They lit up in surprise.

"Your arm…" She began but quickly shut her mouth. She looked up at me with apologetic eyes.

Her lips parted as if to ask something more but no sound came out.

I pulled the thin blanket closer to my body to slightly cover up my arm and looked away.

Rolling out of the hammock I held up my blanket in front of me and faced Nami.

"Well I'm going to the bath house-"

The door swung open.

Luffy ran into the room with Sanji not too far behind him. Zoro came in afterwards holding with his hand on the hilt of his sword ready to unsheathe it at any time.

"What's going on here?" Luffy yelled. He looked as if he was ready to punch something.

I blinked then wrapped the small blanket further around my scantily clothed body.

My blush spread to my ears. Had I really screamed that loud?

Zoro looked from Nami to myself, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What happened? We heard someone screaming so we came over." Zoro asked drowsily.

"My sweet Nami!" Sanji pushed past Luffy and scurried to Nami's side.

"I hope you aren't hurt."

"No one's hurt Sanji it was just," She looked at me. I averted my eyes to the floor.

"Uh, there was just this…bug."

Zoro looked at her skeptically and crossed his arms over his bare chest.

"A bug? Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure," She said more confident in her response.

"Aw," Luffy's arms fell like spaghetti to his sides as a look of disappoint crossed his face. Perhaps he had wanted there to be trouble so he could fight something.

"Now get out! Who said you could just march into the women's quarters like that. What if we were changing you pervs!" She barked and pointed to the door.

Sanji slunk away from Nami and exited the room following the disappointed Luffy and the annoyed Zoro.

Zoro grumbled some comment about women before shutting the door loudly behind him.

It confused me why Nami had lied about the screaming all of a sudden. She hadn't been the one had screamed and woke everyone else up so why did she take the blame. I didn't care to question her reasons too much because I was mostly grateful. There would be nothing more embarrassing than to describe the reason why I sometimes wake up abruptly in the middle of the night. These restless nights happened often. But for some reason they seemed to be coming to me at night more frequently.

It was not just their frequency that bothered me though, it was what I dreamed about. The subject of the dream was usually always the same. Sometimes the setting would change. Things would happen a little differently and the colors would be lighter than the last time. There were periods when I would be older and some when I would be only four. Yet, there was one thing that would never alter and that was the result. It would always be the same event from that horrible experience of three years ago. The pain would still be the same. The possibility of this nightmare coming back haunted me every time I lay in bed. Sleeping was no longer a sanctuary because of it. So I usually couldn't sleep at all.

I hated it.

All my dreams had become nightmares.

Since I lived mostly on my own I didn't have to worry about people being concerned with my midnight fits. Even the old man chose to pay no attention to this while I slept in his basement. I liked it better this way because it was embarrassing to admit I had nightmares. It made me feel as if I was a still child.

I'm a woman; I should be able to take care of myself.

Nami walked back to her own bed and slipped under her covers. I walked out of the room and headed to the washrooms.

Later that evening I busied myself within the room of Usopp's Factory. I couldn't stand to be out on deck. The weather had changed considerably and the waves were rocking the ship a lot harder. My stomach couldn't take the sensation of moving and watching the waves out at sea. Keeping my hands and mind busy was the only way I could stay focused.

My knees were starting to hurt from squatting on them so I got up in hopes of regaining circulation.

_I wonder what everyone else is doing right now._

I couldn't deny that my time in the Factory had been spent reflecting on Luffy and I's conversation last night. A spike of anger would rise in the depth of my stomach whenever I would think about his question.

_Do you have dreams?_

I couldn't explain why but this question made me aggravated and gloomy at the same time. Luffy may have not regarded the question as anything too difficult to answer. Of course, he seemed so confident in his own dream and path in life. The inquiry had struck deeper in me though.

_Stop being all sentimental idiot. You'll be leaving this place soon anyways._

It was true. The ship was on route to small fishing village, in which we would arrive within a day. My plan from the beginning was to get off as soon as I possibly could once I had gotten a far enough distance from both the military and Captain Blackbeard. So this would work out perfectly for myself.

When the ship docks all I need to do is make up some excuse about needing materials. Then sneak off. I'd be scotch free and ready to hitch a ride to my next destination. Hopefully, it will not on a ship full of strange pirates with weird powers and talking animals. No offense.

I dusted off the black dust on my hands.

There was no longer a reason to continue working. Nor was there a reason to occupy my time with the various members of the crew and our relationships. I would be gone by tomorrow and then I would never have to see them again. I would never have to keep up with Usopp's fake stories or Franky's near nakedness or Sanji's weird glances or Brook's creepiness or even Zoro's intimidating glares. I would not even have to put up with Robin's silence, Chopper's big eyes or Nami's 'kindness'.

Last of all, I wouldn't have to deal with Luffy's silly antics and stupid emotions he causes to linger inside me.

A tinge of guilt entered my heart but I justified my thinking, telling myself it was only business and this was how the world works. Life is full of a collection of acquaintances, brief meetings that fill certain chapters of one's life. This was just a small chapter in my own. I was ready to move on to proceed to the next chapter, which would be… expanding my business.

As I walked out of the room I began formulating a plan on how I was going to start my new trade at the latest destination. I had been completely unaware or at least chose to be oblivious to the small creature hiding behind the coat rack next to the stairway. His hiding spot would have been more successful if he was 3 inches thin and lacked two large antlers that protruded from his head. Unfortunately he was rather plump and everything from his red top hat to his large black eyes and his little red jacket was in plain view. I was not sure if he knew how faulty his disguise was because as soon as my eyes landed on the coat rack he immediately sucked in his gut and tried as best as he could to blend in with the stick.

I walked closer to the coat rack observing Chopper's increasingly nervous reaction. He was sweating now and fought the urge to wipe his brow.

_Chopper._

I kind of wanted to laugh at how ridiculous he was but I merely kept my complacent expression and acted as if I didn't notice him. Taking my own coat hanging from his antler and threw it on. After lingering before the coat rack, wondering when Chopper will break, I finally started to where the foot of the stairs was.

A relieved sigh escaped from behind which made me stop. The relieved sigh was suddenly followed by a surprised gasp which was cut short. I walked backwards until I was in front of the 'coat rack' again. Then I turned and bent down to my knees until I was eye level with Chopper. Chopper was holding his breath and using all his power to not move. I simply stared in his eyes for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Chopper-"

"Aaagh! It wasn't my idea I promise. I didn't want to spy on you. He dared me to do it, I'm sorry! Don't hurt me!" His words were fast and rushed as he covered his face with his hooves. I looked at him with a confused expression.

"Chopper, please." I tried to calm the teenage moose.

"I'm not going to hurt,"

"Oh,"

"So…what are you doing here?" My question was casual.

Chopper twiddled his hooves shyly and didn't look me in the eye.

I crossed my arms. It was obvious that Chopper was spying on me, he had admitted it himself, the question really was: why? And for whom?

"N-Nothing, I was just…"

I decided to get straight to the problem.

"Who sent you here?"

"If Sanji found out I told you he'd be really angry. So I can't tell you. Sorry."

_Sanji? Why is he sending Chopper to spy on me?_

"Why are you spying on me Chopper?"

"Uh, W-w-well it's doesn't have anything to do with your clothes or anything! If that's what you're thinking."

_What? Did Sanji send Chopper to spy on me to see what clothes I wore? That didn't make sense. Unless Chopper heard Sanji's orders wrong._

"Fine," I mocked as I gave Chopper a playfully inquisitive look.

"If you don't want to tell me anything, then so be it."

Chopper gave a sigh of relief again then scurried up the stairs.

"Uh, well see you later Ms. Bleu." He said on his way out.

Outside the weather was becoming a lot more restless. The sky had an ominous almost light purplish look that forebode of a coming rainfall. The air was cool and on the horizon were a couple of dark clouds.

I saw Nami looking at them with her hand held microscope she had a compass and a map laid out in front of her. I walked over to her looking at the clouds more closely.

"Nami?" I asked hesitantly. This morning was fresh in my brain. I was still slightly embarrassed even though there shouldn't have been a reason to be.

"Yes?" She replied without breaking away from the telescope.

"How's the weather?"

"It's not looking too good. There's a storm front moving in." She stated solemnly.

I looked at the sky again. It looked somewhat purplish but it only looked like a little rainfall was approaching.

"It only looks like a little rain."

She put down her telescope and shook her head.

"It's going to be a really big storm. I can feel it."

_She can feel it?_

I've worked on ships before and I knew how weather could easily change on a dime. Yet, a storm to come all of a sudden out of nowhere? That couldn't happen that quickly.

Usopp, Zoro and Brook walked over to where we were standing and looked at the clouds too.

"What's going on?" Zoro asked.

He had his hands placed in his black pants and looked at the sky with disinterest.

"There's a storm coming."

"A storm?" Usopp said in horror.

"You don't have to yell so loud!" Nami said in irritation.

"Oh dear," Brook commented while taking a sip from his tea cup. I took a step farther from Brook who had come to close to me for my liking.

"What does that mean for us?" Zoro asked calmly.

"It means we're going to have to take a detour."

_A detour! That ruins my whole plans!_

"Do we really need to take a detour?" I spoke up. Everyone turned to me and I swallowed.

"I mean we should be fine shouldn't we. The storm shouldn't be that big that we can't beat it to the docks."

"The wind has been blowing really fast. I don't think we'll be able to make it in time."

"If Luffy hadn't taken so long at our last stop we might have." Zoro added.

The he sighed.

"It doesn't matter now. We shouldn't take any chances."

Nami nodded in agreement.

_Uggh! These guys can't be serious?_

"The storm really doesn't look that bad to me. Besides it'll be faster if we go straight through and make a stop at the village than if we go the whole way around and try to avoid it."

"We don't need to make a stop at the village. We already have enough rations to last us a week."

I glared at Zoro.

"But at the rate all you guys eat it will be gone before then." I countered. Zoro turned his piercing hazel eyes towards me. He was annoyed, I could tell. But I needed to make that stop or I would be stuck on this ship for who knows how long.

"Nami knows what she's talking about. If she says there's a big storm coming up we should probably listen."

"Stopping at that village will just waste our time." He added.

Luffy and Sanji appeared behind Zoro and entered into the conversation.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked curiously and then looked at Zoro and I who had completely broken off from everyone else's conversation and formed our own. His arms were crossed over his chest and so were mine.

"There's a big storm coming." Nami said.

Luffy shrugged his shoulders.

"So?"

Nami looked at him in annoyance.

"We need to decide if we're going to try to sail to the fishing village or go the alternative route."

"And we need to decide soon." She said while keeping a cautious eye on the clouds on the horizon.

"But the alternate route is through the Deadman's Way. That's dangerous!" Usopp added.

"He's right. Going through there would be crazy." I chimed in.

"You're not the navigator. We don't need your opinion." Zoro said.

I clenched my hands to my sides.

"Oh really, and who made you the boss to say whose opinions we need and don't need?"

"All you do is sleep all day anyways!"

Sanji repressed a snicker and Usopp shuffled out of hitting distance from Zoro. A vein pulsated on his forehead as he looked at me with utter agitation. I kept my gaze locked with his, neither of our gazes wavering. Zoro's face contorted and he narrowed his eyes which took on an animalistic appearance. His mouth set into a hard line.

The last part of the conversation wasn't meant to come out. Our maybe it was but just in a different way. I laughed nervously before coughing and turning to Luffy.

"So where do you think we should go Luffy." Nami asked trying to calm the increasingly thick air.

"Which way will be more fun?"

_He isn't seriously basing his decision on that is he?_

"The alternate route is a lot more dangerous Luffy so I think we-"

"The alternate route it is!"

My mouth hung agape in wonder.

"But there are rocks-"

"Nami set sail for that place."

"And there may even be monster-"

"This is awesome! I can't wait!"

I gave up. It was impossible to convince Luffy. In my effort to persuade him to not go I had done the opposite and sealed my fate.

"I guess it's been decided." Zoro huffed under his breath and turned to leave. Everyone dispersed and so did I before Nami stopped me.

"Was there something that you needed at the village?"

"No, it was…nothing," I sighed.

She looked empathetic.

"Well I'm sure hopefully we could get it as soon as we leave Deadman's Way."

I nodded.

This was unbelievable. I would be stuck on this ship for another week or maybe even longer. Not only that I would have to risk my life going through some unknown part of the sea.

_It has DEADMAN in the name. When would that ever be a good option?_

_Fine, I hope we do run into monsters. Then we'll see._

I'm also sure I had come off as completely suspicious just now. And Zoro likes me no better.

I walked towards the Women's Quarters and plopped into y hammock. Then I stared at the ceiling. My heart was heavy.

_It could be worse. I could be dead. Or I could be in some Marines Jail._

The attempt at thinking optimistically did not help me at all even though I wished it could. I could not bear to stay here any longer and pretend that I was a part of this group of bandits, pretend that I 'fit' in. I was just lying to everyone and to myself. But the longer I stayed the more difficult it was. Every day I would convince myself that I hated it here and that I hated the people, that this life was not meant for me.

I deserved to be alone. It was the only way I could function.

I laid there trying to make myself accept the fact that I would just have to keep up the rouge for another week or so. It would be difficult being the impatient person I was, but it would have to be necessary.

I did not leave the room for the rest of the day. Instead, I took to cleaning a pistol that had been displayed in a case at _Rick's Fireworks_ shack. This one was even more important than all the weapons I had ever touched in my artillery. It had been made by the Old Man himself in his younger days. He would always keep it hanging in the very back of the shack, almost hidden away so no one would touch it. It made me wonder why sometimes. Yet, after his death I took care of it seeing as it would be one of the ways I could pay my respect for using his stuff.

The light sound of rain pitter pattered on the deck of the ship.

_It looks like we've already caught the rainfall._

Before I knew it I fell asleep…

"_Don't do it!"_

_My hand hovered above the container. The green substance from the tube was sliding slowly downwards. The room shifted and leaned and I held on to a table for support._

"_I have to!"_

_The deep voice was much more assertive now._

"_You can't do this. You'll kill yourself!"_

_He commanded._

_I saw the man run down to the foot of the stairs. His face was covered by a shadow and all that could be seen was the blue handkerchief tied around his white marine uniform and blue pants._

"_Bleu!"_

"_I have to do this!"_

_I poured the substance into the container. And then a burst of smoke-_

Something hard rolled off of the shelf and hit me on my head. I opened my eyes to be greeted by darkness. There was a rumble on the boat again. I looked up at the ceiling the noise didn't seem to be coming from there. It was coming from the sides of the ship.

_It must be those guys again._

Then the boat had tipped over a considerable amount. I fell out of my hammock face first onto the hard floor.

_This better be a game._

I made my way to the deck. It was the crack of dawn and the sun just peaked over the horizon. Not that you would be able to tell. There was barely any light out as the sky was covered in dark clouds and the rain seemed to be falling continuously from the sky. Luffy was standing on top of the mast surrounded by Sanji, Franky, Zoro, Brook and Robin.

I stomped up to Luffy, who stood staring over the side of the boat.

"Luffy, what the hell? Will you stop with the racket?" I yelled before even reaching him yet.

"It's coming." He said while not looking at me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Guys!" He called over his shoulder.

"I think it's coming on this side."

"What! What's coming? Why is everyone standing around five o' clock in the morning?" I asked becoming more frantic.

The emotions displayed on everyone's faces ranged from gravity to dread, save for Luffy whose face was an odd mixture of marvel and exhilaration. I knew that face before and nothing good ever followed when it was made.

I scanned the dock for the other crew mates. Usopp was nowhere to be found and Nami and Chopper were bracing themselves a safe distance away, peering out the window.

"Could someone please tell what's going on?" I asked hysterically.

~**The End**

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><p>Chapter Eight Preview:<p>

**Creature From the Deep**

_I looked at Usopp who stood beside me. He was soaking wet._

"_What are your special powers?" I asked frantically. _

"_I don't have any." He responded._

"_Than what do you DO?" I asked._

"_There's only one thing we can do." He stated gravely._

_He stood there for a moment, his eyes taking on a heroic glimmer and he puffed out his chest. _

_Then he began running towards the canon room flailing his arms as he did so, emitting a sound that I would expect to come from the vocal chords of a seven year old girl._

_I should have known._

Release Date:

10/13

**Please feel free to comment or review. I'll even make sure to respond whether it be in the Author's comments or by personal message! :D**


	8. The Creature from the Deep

_**Disclaimer**__: I am not making any money off of this fan fiction involving the One Piece franchise. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump. _

_**Author's Note**__: Hi everyone. Sorry for having this out a day late! _

_Is it just me or does applying for colleges suck. I wish we could just all be accepted based on how awesome we were instead of our grades. Oh well. So…where did we leave off? Oh yeah, there were bad dreams, a change of course and some bad weather in the last chapter. _

**Mwynhau!** (Enjoy!) :)

* * *

><p><strong>Creature from the Deep<strong>

"Could someone please tell what's going on?" I asked hysterically.

The faint presence of rain could be sensed outside my coat. The sky was an unnatural deep purple color.

The emotions displayed on everyone's faces ranged from gravity to dread, save for Luffy's whose face was an odd mixture of marvel and exhilaration. I had seen that sparkle in his eyes before, and the events that had followed were not all that pleasant.

I scanned the dock for the other members of the crew. Usopp was nowhere to be found and Nami and Chopper were bracing themselves a safe distance away while peering out the window.

A thick blanket of darkness covered the entire ship. Just the outlines of rushing bodies were visible in between the steadily increasing rainfall.

"Luffy?" I asked.

My voice was lost in the wind and rain.

The boat shook and tipped over to my left. I felt my body lean over before catching myself. Sooner than I had time to recover, another wave hit and caused the boat to rock. My hands reached for a ledge to hold on to against the wall. It was slick from the rain, making it difficult to get a good grip.

I was suddenly reminded of how much I disliked boats as the ship for the third time rocked to the opposite side. The boat lurched and the sound of a snapping board resonated through its walls.

A spray of salt water showered my body completely, soaking me from head to toe. I spat out the salty water from my mouth. Not much was left protected under the shelter of my rain coat but I lifted its sopping hood over my head anyways. My bangs stuck to my face, as did my clothes. My boots were filled with water and made an uncomfortable splashy sound as I moved my feet. I breathed heavily trying to get the air back into my body. The rain was almost everywhere now.

I had been wrong yesterday. Who had ever heard of a storm traveling this quickly? This wasn't some natural rainstorm. This was a freak of nature.

Soon, all I could hear were voices fighting for dominance over the sound of the downpour.

"Nami, maneuver the ship!"

"Got it!"

"Robin and I will secure the docking systems."

"Sanji get the mast!"

"Tch. Don't yell at me, dumbass."

"I'll just go back to the-"

"Get your ass over here Usopp!"

_Damn it! What am I supposed to do?_

All I could do was watch on helplessly as the rest of the crew scrambled around the deck's surface. As I observed them more closely I realized that their struggle to keep the boat under control was less of a rush and more of a coordinated dance.

From what I could tell Luffy had climbed up the mast of the boat to release the extra line cables for the sails. Zoro and Sanji, the obvious powerhouses, were busy keeping the sail in line. Nami was at the bow of the ship while Robin and Franky had traveled to the Docking systems. Even Brook, Usopp and Chopper were doing their share of work. They all seemed to hustle in tandem like one big machine but each with different parts that performed different tasks. Each in their own way they were helping one another.

I was impressed with the ease that everyone sunk into their roles in the midst of the chaos.

Salt from the water burned my eyes and I closed them as the boat began to rock again.

Something firm clutched my arms but I was unable to tell what it was because my eyes were closed shut.

"Hey!" The rough voice objected.

The hands jerked me from my grip on the ledge and tore me from the only thing that was keeping my body somewhat upright.

"What are you doing?"

The stern voice stood out among the yells of the other crewmates and the pattering of the rain. A shiver vibrated through my body but I forced myself to quiet it.

"Uh," I spit out the water streaming down my face.

_This was no time to look like babbling baby._

The swordsman's dark onyx eyes stared into my own with an air of frustration. His damp hair seemed a cool duller shade of green in the obscurity. He furrowed his brows.

"Why are you just standing around?"

I sniffled, unable to come up with an answer.

_What WAS I doing standing around?_

"If you're not going to be useful get off the deck." He stated harshly.

"We don't need you getting in the way."

The salt irritated my throat on its way down as I swallowed.

"I-I," He left before I could say anything else.

_Fine. I was planning on leaving anyways. I don't need you to tell me what to do._

I edged myself off the ledge. Then I sloshed through the puddles on the deck floor.

I didn't pay the least bit of attention to the wetness between my toes or how my coat stuck to the back of my shirt.

All I needed was to find a better place to hold onto. There was nothing more I could do to help. A stray barrel rolled towards me knocking me over to the floor. I landed, hard on my side. The pain from the fall was only amplified by the overall feeling of wetness. Before I could register the boat tipping again I rolled back and hit the edge of the railing of the ship.

In an attempt to collect my bearings I rested there for a moment staring into the depths of the turbulent ocean.

"Bleu? Are you okay?" Usopp yelled.

I groaned in response.

"I see it! It's coming on Bleu's side!" Luffy's voice called from afar.

_What is he talking about?_

In the midst of the waves below surfaced a few bubbles. I stared at the bubbles in confusion. A black shadow in the water appeared. Small at first but then it slowly began to grow until it was the size of a small ship. Something was floating up towards the air.

Whatever it was it was large and orange.

I gripped the edge of the boat.

Finally, the surface of the water broke. Something like an orange balloon started to arise from its depths then yellow jellied eyes.

The Thousand Sunny shuddered as something attached itself to it. Immediately, I back pedaled from the edge of the ship in horror.

The object rose to eye level with me. Its large yellow jelly like eyeball focused in on my form.

_What the heck is that?_

"This is awesome!" I turned to look behind me. Luffy stood in a fighting position and repositioned his wet straw hat on his head.

"A-Are you kidding me right now? This is horrible!" Usopp blubbered while looking on with terror.

Luffy's smile only grew as he made his way to the large octopus like creature.

It loomed over the ship clutching on the Thousand Sunny's side with one large tentacle.

_What the heck is this giant squid octopus thing doing out here?_

Even though it was inappropriate to do so, this sight reminded me of a very cheesy puppeteer show I had witnessed during my childhood. The lamely put together children's tale told the story of an old man who had went out to sea and had gotten himself eaten by some large squid. The story seemed trivial back then as I was sure that such large creatures could not possibly be real.

I had never seen one before. So I had no reason to believe they existed.

Now the slimy monster seemed more like a surreal nightmare.

The sound of metal being moved as Zoro unsheathed his sword cut through the tension. Sanji sighed and put out his cigarette.

Robin stood still, facing the gigantic squid with indifference, apparently not needing to do anything to prepare for battle. Luffy readied himself while I stood by and looked upon them with concern.

_They weren't thinking of actually fighting this thing were they?_

I gulped as the octopus raised a gangly tentacle to the mast.

Sanji was the first to attack. His leap appeared to require no effort as he jumped into the air with his hands still in his pocket and landed a blow to the jelly like creature. Zoro and Luffy followed, blocking the creature's other tentacles from more possible assaults.

Unpredictable. That was one word to sum up the entire Straw Hat Crew.

Unpredictable.

I looked at Usopp who stood beside me. His overalls like my own clothes were sticking to his body and his curly hair was even more unruly than usual. I hated to know what I looked like at the moment.

"What are your special powers?" I asked frantically.

"I don't have any." He responded.

"Than what do you DO?" I asked.

"There's only one thing we can do." He stated gravely.

He stood there for an instant, his eyes taking on a heroic glimmer and he puffed out his chest.

Then, he began running towards the cannon room flailing his arms as he did so, emitting a sound that I would expect to come from the vocal chords of a seven-year old girl.

…

I should have known.

Yet, as I looked at the crewmates involved in their own battles I scrambled across the deck to follow his example, except with less screaming on my part. We dived down the stairs and into the farthest corner of his factory room. Usopp cowered behind a large cannon in a fetal position.

The underside of the desk looked equally inviting.

It wasn't that I was afraid or anything. Well actually, I was a bit fearful. I didn't usually venture out into the sea. After experiencing so much, I had to draw the line somewhere and that line stopped well before giant Cephalopods were involved.

The air was warmer down here. My awareness of the water dripping down my back heightened.

The ship rocked and a few tools dropped from the place on the shelf and splattered across the floor. The need to bring sensation back into my legs propelled me to walk around and peek out the porthole window. There was a flash of orange skin before a large gooey eyeball stared back into the porthole. I stepped back in shock then watched as the eye disappeared back into the murky water. The window was then covered by that of a massive fleshy suction cup. There were cracks starting to develop at the edge of the window.

_Is this another octopus?_

"Usopp, look at this." I pointed to the window.

The sharpshooter slowly slithered out from his hiding spot and came hesitantly towards the window.

"What is it?"

"These cracks here, how many units of pressure can these walls take."

"These walls are reinforced with a special rare wood and metal. They shouldn't break." He said cautiously.

Usopp stared at the window before continuing.

"But if this octopus has its tentacles wrapped around the ship it might be blocking our propeller."

"That's not good." I remarked.

"If the propeller is blocked we won't be able to stay floating in the water and we'll have no way of getting away from this thing."

"But…Luffy and those guys should be able to handle it right? I mean, before this thing does any real damage."

I watched Usopp as he stared at the crack in the window with contemplation. The ship swayed to the side but I was unable to tell if this was due to the waves or the giant octopus.

Or even octopi, seeing as how the ship was being pushed from various angles. There was a possibility that we were being attacked by multiple octopus creatures.

It was moments like this when I wished I had never gotten on Luffy's ship.

_I should have just stayed in bed._

"This ship's supposed to make it through the Grand Line." He stated behind me.

_Why am I so worried?_

Everyone seemed to be doing well out there. So there should be no reason for me to get involved. Nevertheless, a sense of panic began to rise in the pit of my stomach. For some reason I felt obliged to do something.

But what?

I stood there, thinking. Then I looked at the hefty yet unfinished cannon sitting in the middle of the room.

Then, I had an epiphany.

Usopp watched me run to the other side of the room and push aside random gadgets and pieces of metal. I pulled some misslies out of a box.

"Where are you going?"

"Bring my bazooka."

"Wai- What? What are you going to do with that?"

But I was already running up the stairs.

I slid across the deck, dodging an incoming swipe of a tentacle. The rain whipped around my face. The octopus creature still loomed over head, its arms flailing around aimlessly.

My breath was erratic and I heaved as I took the heavy gun from Usopp's shaky arms.

Dropping down to one knee I lifted the bazooka on my shoulder. Its hard metal sunk into my skin making me feel uncomfortable. But at the same time a weapon on my shoulder felt like the most natural thing in the world. Taking the handle with my left arm to balance, I secured my right hand around the trigger. Hopefully the rain will not stop the gun from firing.

Usopp stood with a blank expression, observing his crew mates fighting off the assaults from the creature's tentacles.

"Usopp, put in one of those missiles."

A lens unlatched from the weapon allowing me to pinpoint the target better. I peeped through the lens and breathed in deeply.

My purpose is not to shoot it directly. Killing animals was not a past time of mine. If anything this monster could have attacked us because we had simply trespassed into its habitat, which was understandable.

All I simply needed to do was send out an emergency flare. A bright white light that could emit noise once it exploded. That could create enough raucous to scare off this octopus and any of its potential buddies.

The boat leaned again causing me to slip and tumble over.

_Crap!_

"Usopp!"

I readied myself again picking up the bazooka from the wet floor. Usopp bent down to help me up.

Just as Usopp and I had aligned the bazooka again a tentacle flew towards us knocking the gun in the process. It swiveled around on its stand, knocking me backwards. I toppled across the deck and landed on my back. My cheek throbbed from the impact of the metal hitting my jaw.

_Come on!_

I crawled back towards the cannon, holding on to its handle.

"Watch out!" I warned unsure if anyone would hear me. Luffy stood on top of the monster, pummeling away at its large head. He saw me positioning the weapon and jumped back onto the ship. Sanji was trying to force himself free of the restraints of the tentacles that were binding him, while Zoro was slicing away at some other stray limbs.

Without a second thought I angled the artillery weapon before the monster. Its eye locked with mine. I was incredibly close to edge now.

There was a puff of smoke that began fuming at the back of the gun. Then a quick flash of light as the missile launched from the barrel. The force from the blast caused me to stumble a bit backwards but my hands remained on the hilt of the bazooka.

A stream of light soared through the air and past the creatures face. It resembled a shooting star and stood out across the black gloomy sky. Then there was an explosion of light and a loud whizzing sound.

The creature froze in its place.

_What a stupid idea. I should have known this wouldn't work._

All the crew members watched attentively. Slowly but surely, the grand creature's tentacles slithered off the ship's body and sunk into the water. The boat shook once more before the octopus squid hybrid began to retreat back into the depths of the ocean.

I sighed with relief. There was a loud ringing in my ears and my heart was still beating furiously.

As the creature fell into the water its body created a large wave in the process.

"Bleu! Heads up," Sanji yelled from across the deck.

A dark shadow appeared over me and I watched as a wave emerged over my head. The weight from the bazooka still on my shoulders made me temporarily immobile. My reaction time was too slow and before I knew it a shower of water was crashing over me.

"Dammit." Zoro said under his breath.

Sea water rushed all around me and lifted me from the ground. The sensation felt something like being in suspended in air and not having control of my legs. Fear rang through my heart and what was mere seconds seemed like two minutes as I felt my body get pulled off the ship without my control. As the wave retreated from the boat it pulled me over with it. My hands searched pointlessly for something to hold onto.

An arm of steel wrapped around torso and held me up against a hard surface. The rush of water stopped and I felt my feet swaying in the air. The only concrete thing I could feel was that of a steely cold and equally wet body holding my own against it. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around it and looked guardedly at the torrent of water below.

"You're a pain in the ass." The voice was worn out and deep. The humid breath tickled my ear.

It was Zoro's. I would have replied but I felt my words had been knocked out of my body. That and the fact that Zoro's arm was the only thing keeping me from falling into the watery abyss below.

The swordsman was hanging off the edge of the boat with one hand while holding me up with his other. We dangled over the water.

He rocked himself using the momentum to send us flying back up on deck.

I rested there, frozen and shivering, my heart still beating from the near death experience. My hands were wrapped tightly around the swordsman's head and my long legs were wrapped around his torso. Zoro sighed and tried to unlatch himself from my death grip.

"You saved me," I breathed into his neck. It was a dumb thing to say. But amid all the commotion that was the only thing I could think about.

"You're choking me. Let go." His voice was more exhausted than upset.

My hold lessened and I slinked away from him.

"Oh…sorry." I blushed.

* * *

><p>-<strong>In a place not too terribly far away-<strong>-

********'s** POV

"Got any twos?"

"Nope, go fish."

"…Are you sure?"

Yeah I'm sure, now go fish."

"Then why do I get the feeling you're lying!"

"Why the hell would I cheat in go fish?"

"You've had that same damn smug look on your face the entire game-"

"Shut up!"

_Why am I always assigned the idiots to look after? Can't the marines hire better service?_

I inhaled deeply.

The smoke entered my lungs and came out in thick puffs of smoke. My head rushed and my nerves calmed. I tapped on the arm of the sofa impatiently then looked at the clock hanging in the corner of the room.

The room was silent. Even the two marine jockeys sat in silence for once. My muscles relaxed and I sunk back into the comfy sofa's pillows.

_Now this is-_

The door opened to reveal a young woman with short black hair.

_This better be important._

"Sir! The Straw Hat Pirates' flag has been spotted passing by the Conch islands."

I exhaled again letting more smoke flow out from my mouth. A grin was set on my face.

"Then set sail for Paradise Villa."

"Are we planning on intercepting them there?" She asked tentatively.

"Probably,"

Before leaving she turned around to me once again.

"Um, Sir? Exactly what is the …objective of this mission?"

"The higher ups have special plans for one of the passengers. And I've got some personal business of my own to take care of…"

~ **End of Chapter**

* * *

><p>Chapter Nine Preview:<p>

**Nakama**

_I had been called many things before in my life including but not limited to: Stingy B*tch. Little boy. Lesbo. Uncompassionate Jerk. Girl with the face. Maggot. Butch. And the 'world's greatest failure'. _

_Yet, never in my life had that list included the word 'nakama'. _

Release Date:

11/2


	9. Nakama

**Author's Note**: I know this took forever to come out. I'm really sorry. I also want to give a special thanks to Little Ai. She made some really awesome fanart of Bleu on deviantart. Go to my profile to look for the link! Or type in LittleAi on deviantart.

* * *

><p><span>Chopper's Perspective<span>

The lingering after smell of heavy rain wafted through the air. Yet, the sky was completely void of any clouds. Only a few cottony pieces straggled along on their own. One almost resembled the form of a large elephant, if you were to squint your eyes and tilt your head.

"Comin' through," A brusque voice grunted.

I looked from beneath my hat at the tall mechanical man walking past me. I stepped aside, only to step back into a small puddle of water.

Trailing behind him was Bleu. Her eyes were aimed at a clipboard in front of her but her focus seemed to be somewhere else as she followed behind him slowly.

I wanted to wave but decided against it.

_She's probably tired because of last night._

I shivered at the past ordeal. There had been so much water the previous night. You would think I would be used to water, being on a boat all the time, but that was not entirely true. I may be a pirate but I still get scared sometimes too. Usopp always tells me that when I get older and bigger like him I will not have to worry about fear.

I hope this is true, because I want to do cool things like what Bleu did last night. She does not have any special powers that I know of but somehow she was able to carry that large weapon and make it shoot out fire. I had never seen some one use something like that before.

I walked over to the rail of the ship and hung my arms over the side.

If only I was brave and cool like the rest of the crew.

Bleu was such a confusing person. I never saw her hang out with the rest of us. And I even rarely see her smile. In a way, she kind of reminded me of Zoro. Always the pained expression. I have found myself wondering why.

_Well, at least Zoro hangs out every now and then, when he's not sleeping_.

_Maybe she doesn't come out a lot because she has some big secret?_

It would be plausible. Luffy was notorious for picking people with questionable backgrounds.

My eyes followed the flash of color that appeared through the surface of the blue water. An orange fish jumped into the air before landing back into the water with a plop.

_Cool._

It flopped out of the water again, and in a blink of an eye it was swept away by the talons of a white bird. I watched in horror as the seagull carried its lunch off into the horizon.

_Poor fish._

Something clicked in my brain as I watched the bird beat its lengthy wings through the air.

A memory, seemingly unimportant resurfaced in my mind.

I sat reading the text book at my small desk. The columns of words began to run together into in unintelligible blur of black print. I could no longer absorb the information and I had long forgotten what I was even reading about. A yawn escaped my lips. My eye lids threatened to close for good and I tried to rub the heavy feeling out of them.

It did not work.

I swung my feet, which floated two feet above the floor. Then I swirled in my swivel chair. Anything I could do to get blood pumping to my body.

I could not go to sleep. Not yet. Not until Luffy came home. Then I would have to make sure he is okay. Then I'll...

Another yawn overtook my body without warning.

Well, maybe I could just take a small little incy wincy nap-

"Chopper!"

My head jerked away from the textbook.

The door to the doctor's office slammed open. It rattled the cabinet doors and the various jars inside. I pushed away from the desk with my foot. The rolling chair skated back towards the cot on the other side of the room.

"W-What's going on! Is someone hurt?" I said in a panicky voice.

Nami walked in followed by a rather grumpy Usopp and a moderately content Sanji. Usopp came in first, walking backwards while carrying someone's arms limp arms.

I gasped, assuming it had been Luffy. Sanji held the person's boots. My heart beat quelled once I realized that this person was not Luffy at all. He was way too tall.

Usopp and Sanji rather clumsily placed the person onto the bedside to which Nami berated them for. He lay in an awkward position, his left arm slung across his face and his legs twisted around each other.

"You're not lugging a bag of potatoes idiots."

Nami snapped.

"He weighed like three hundred pounds!" Usopp said while rubbing his back.

Sanji rubbed the back if his blonde hair sheepishly.

"Sorry Ms. Nami I-"

"I no longer need you. You both can leave." She dismissed the men with a wave of her hand. Sanji looked to the ground dejectedly but trudged out the door followed by she crossed her arms over her large bosom and turned to my trembling form in the rolling chair.

I looked at the dripping body encased in a yellow raincoat.

"I think he's fine, but check him out to make sure okay?" The navigator shot a concerned look to the body on the cot.

_Ch-check him out? But why not call a doc-Oh, right, I'm the doctor._

"Y-yes Nami." Mt voice squeaked.

Nami smiled a bit exasperatedly and nodded her head.

"Good, I'll come check up on him in the morning."

The young woman turned on her heel and stalked out of the room leaving me and the mysterious person alone.

I wondered if this had been the person Luffy had been talking about. What other reason would they have brought him on the ship?

After a few minutes of taking the person's vital signs I began to take off his boots, backpack and jacket. The backpack was the most difficult to discard. It weighed a ton but for good reason. I only peeked into the bag. There were a number of dangerous looking metallic objects in there. I thought it best not to touch them and dragged the bag to the corner of the room.

His oval shaped face was sharp but the roundness of his cheeks and the arch of his eyes softened his hard features. His thick dark eyebrows rested upon his eyes as if he were in deep concentration, even while sleeping. A light spray of freckles ran across his nose and his shaggy brown chestnut hair rested upon his face in wet chunks.

If I had not known better I would say he looked kind of effeminate for a guy. His face was fit for that of a young boy who had not yet graced the period of puberty. If he were not so tall I would have guessed him to be a lot younger.

I shrugged. Humans came in all shapes in sizes. It would only be normal to see a couple of strange looking ones every now and then.

I lifted him up to a sitting position. His body seemed to be fine. No major bruises but just a few scratches, nothing dire for the most part. Except… There were some odd blue markings on his right shoulder blade. It was blurry at first and I tried to wipe it away with a towel only to realize that it was permanent.

_A tattoo?_

I peered at the mysterious mosaic inscribed into his right shoulder blade. Instead of a mass of symbols there seemed to be an object that resembled the wings of a cartoony seagull. Underneath were a continuous blur of seven letters. The only letters I could decipher for sure were M, I, N, S.

I could never understand why humans drew on themselves. Didn't they know tattoos lasted forever? I stared at the strange marking a little bit longer with the nagging feeling that I had seen it in some form somewhere. It's probably doesn't mean anything, I told myself.

Then I put a smiley band aid on his knee just for good luck, and covered him back up.

I had learned some quite surprising facts about Bleu since then. That he was actually a female instead of a male. And she could make explosions of fire come out of metal tubes. It was almost like she was a witch.

I stared at the calm water below.

But maybe she's just lonely. Maybe she is scared.

I knew I had been pretty scared when I had first joined the crew. I did not want to talk to anyone. Maybe this was why she was so sad all the time.

_Maybe, if I show her how nice we really are, then she won't feel so lonely anymore. _

I moved away from the deck, powered by a new goal and motivation.

All I needed were crayons, pencils, and a piece of paper.

Bleu's Perspective

"Everything seems fine to me." Grunted Franky.

He had his hand on the glass of the porthole and his other hand rubbing his triple chin. I nodded, even though I was not really paying attention at all to what he was saying. My mind had drifted somewhere else.

The weather had calmed down a considerable amount, and so had the 'chaos'. The rest of the crew spent the night resting peacefully.

Except for me.

They reacted as if they encountered random monsters at sea all the time.

Of course, the monsters were not the major source of my discomfort.

I sniffled and rubbed my nose.

"Yep, that's about it. Everything's just SUPA down here."

I nodded again with an emptied look in my eye. I would be lying if I said that was a fan of water because even though I have spent an incredible amount of my life on a ship I just did not find the ocean to be calming.

The attackers had disappeared off somewhere startled by the light as I had planned. What had not been planned last night was my folly.

Franky and I began walking down the hallways. I had 'agreed', actually forced, to help with the check up of the ship and docking station. I guess it was the least, I could do 'pull my own weight around here' as Franky put it.

I really wanted to just sleep in my room though.

The taller cybernetic man stopped at a place in the wall. Then he bent down to inspect where the floor and the wall met.

Why was this even necessary? The Thousand Sunny was obviously capable of handling a couple of hits here and there.

Then my thoughts traveled back to Zoro and how I had clenched onto his wet body last night. He had gone out of his way to save my life. But I could not for the life of me guess why.

Franky's mouth moved. But I could not understand what he was saying. All I heard was my name. Zoro saying my name in the rain.

I had been so mean to green haired man. He would have been the last person I would have thought to stick his neck out for me. So why did he do it?

I am not so sure I would have done the same for him.

"Yellow Jacket."

What if he had fallen in the water too?

"Yellow Jacket."

That would have been stupid on his part.

"Yellow Jacket."

It's common sense to never jump overboard in an attempt to save someone.

"Hello, Yellow Jacket? Is anyone here?"

A tingling built up in the cavern of my nose and my mouth parted.

"Achoo!"

"Pfft! What the hell!" Franky recoiled away from my face while spitting furiously.

I wiped my nose and mumbled a sorry.

Franky took off his dirty shades and wiped them with the corner of his flannel shirt. Then he glared at me.

"That's disgusting! My mouth was open and everything."

"I said sorry. I really didn't mean it." I winced.

Franky rubbed his forehead and stared at me with an annoyed look on his face.

"You know, if you're just going to daydream all day in cuckoo land than ya' might as well go to your room."

"What do you mean?"

He recoiled from me crossing his arms in disbelief.

"I've been calling your name for the past two minutes. Have you even written anything down?"

I scoffed at his accusation.

"I've written stuff do-, Oh, wait."

I looked down at the clipboard. The first part of the checklist contained a reasonable amount of notes but towards the end the notes and the words began to blend and become a senseless scribble. I had even drawn a doggy or two out of boredom it seemed.

Franky swiped the clipboard out of my hands and looked it over. He sucked his teeth before shaking his head. He took out his pencil and poked my head with it.

"Listen kid," He placed the butt of the eraser on my forehead.

"Get your head out of the clouds. Not paying attention can cost you your life. You should know that being a cannon specialist and all." He lectured. I snatched the clipboard and pencil back. I did not need him telling me that. Who did he think he was, my older brother?

"Let's please just finish then." I grumbled.

Franky shrugged and carried on with his inspection.

After we finished I took to walking around aimlessly on deck. There was nothing to do. And I couldn't retreat to Usopp's Factory in the lower floor.

_Maybe I should go to the library._

I walked up the stairs on the far side of the ship and I climbed up the ladder. When I entered the room I realized that I was not the only one who had the idea to go to the library. Both Nami and Robin were sitting at a table in the middle of the room looking over a large sheet of paper. I considered going back down again but could not help but feel obliged to stay.

Besides, I had sneezed twice. It would be difficult to pretend I was not there.

Nami looked up from the paper laid out over the table. She tucked a few reddish orange strands out of her face and behind her ear. Her hazel eyes flitted across the room and landed on me.

_Quick, come up with a reason for being here._

I climbed up the stairs and walked across the large room giving a slight wave.

I walked over to the table. Nami was staring at a map which had a number of squiggles written over it. Robin was sitting nearby on the couch surrounding the table with a book in hand.

"How is the…navigating going?" She pushed off the table and placed her hands on her hips.

"We should be heading towards an island nearby but… my compass hasn't been working for some reason"

I reached my hand out to the small round device on the table.

"Can I?" I asked.

She nodded.

I picked up the compass and tapped the screen of the glass. The green arrow twirled around wildly before stopping south then spinning around and stopping north. I lifted it into the air which caused the arrow to move even more sporadically.

Strange.

She shifted her weight to her side and lifted a hand to her temple.

"I have no idea why it's acting this way. I can't even find any landmarks to identify our location."

_That's not good._

"So that means we're lost?" I asked worriedly.

"Well, not completely. I saw a couple of small islands in the distance so we must be reaching a larger piece of land. Hopefully there will be some source of civilization there."

"Ah,"

She looked down at a tear in my coat pocket.

"What have you been doing?" She asked casually.

"Me? Nothing really." _Really, nothing. _

Her eyes lit up as if remembering something.

"Luffy's been looking for you and so has Chopper."

"Why?" I asked a little more interested than I might have liked to portray.

"Luffy couldn't stop aping about how cool your cannon was this morning. I think he's planning on asking you if he could try it out." She laughed.

Then she leaned in.

"But I wouldn't let him if I were you."

_Luffy? With a gun? Scary._

I wiped my nose with the back of my raincoat sleeve.

Nami rolled up her map and placed it into a tube sized container.

"I know you don't like to talk about yourself but I was kind of wondering about your childhood?"

"My childhood?" I repeated.

"Like what city were you born in, what was your family like, you know things like that."

"My family…" I wrung my hands together. What answer exactly was she looking for?

"Well, I have an older brother but we haven't really talked in a while..."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Nami apologized. She sat on the couch next to her raven haired friend.

I looked through porthole to the outside.

"We just do different things now." I added trying to make the conversation smooth out. Then I sneezed once more receiving a 'bless you' from both Robin and Nami.

"Sorry, I think I'll probably look for Chopper for some medicine."

She seemed a bit disappointed.

"See you then."

I climbed back down the ladder.

"Bleu!"

"Ah?" I looked around, startled by the high voice.

I appeared to come out of nowhere.

"Down here!"

I looked downwards. Chopper was standing at my feet with his hands behind his back.

"Chopper?" I furrowed my brows.

He shifted nervously then began to make shy circles on the floor with his foot.

"I just wanted you to know." He began. He gulped but forced himself to keep his gaze connected to mine.

"That we're all friendly here. And I-I um, hope that we can be friends and stuff." His words came out more rushed and a pink tint appeared on his furry cheeks at his own linguistic mistakes.

Finally, he shoved something from behind his back into my hands. I looked at him blankly.

"Uh, Thank you?" Was my only reply.

Chopper bowed before scurrying off without making eye contact.

I looked at the folded paper. On the cover was a stick person with rather disproportionately tall legs and scruffy short hair. Next to it I would have to assume was Chopper because of the large antlers. However, Chopper was even taller and ten times buffer than I would assume he would be in real life. Both of the figures were holding hands with large grins on their faces.

_What the hell is this? And is that supposed to be me?_

_I opened_ the card and on the inside were crudely drawn stick caricatures of all the other crew members holding hands.

I read the words written inside: Let's Be Friends.

Chopper was no Picasso but it was…cute. I cringed at using the word.

Quite cheesy but I could not help but keep looking at it.

Why did Chopper make me look so manly and most importantly why did he make me a card in the first place?

I stared at the paper all day, and for reasons I'm not sure, a feeling bubbled within my chest.

It was night time. I was tired. But all I could do was stare at the ceiling and listen to the slow slumberous creak of the ship rocking side to side. It was quiet, excluding that tiny buzz you here inside your head and the occasional splash of water against the side of the boat.

I sighed. Then I turned to my side. Nami and Robin appeared fast asleep. I did not want to wake them so got out of my cot slowly and put on my raincoat. Once I exited the room I whip across my thighs. It was as dark as Robin's hair. The only thing illuminating the ship was the large moon and the stars. I walked farther down deck until I noticed a figure sitting not too far off.

_Who could possibly be up at this time of night?_

"Hello?" I called out in the night's silent air.

The figure shifted a little but made no mention to get up. I inched closer, holding jacket around my body.

He was lying on the deck floor, his hands placed leisurely behind his head. I could tell it was him. I moved closer up to the point where I was beside him.

The light spilled over his chest and over the jagged features of his visage. His eyes were opened this time and it seemed as if he was staring at the sky. I looked up to try to see the focus of his soundless gaze. But all I could see were scatter of small stars encased in a wide stretch of darkness.

"Do you mind?"

He did not reply at first, and I wondered if he realized I was here at all.

"No."

Gradually I sat a foot beside him. Then I glanced cautiously at his face.

"What are you looking at?"

He closed his eyes and asked calmly.

"Wh-Why do you ask?"

"You've been staring at me since you got here."

I looked away trying to find something to keep my eyes on so I wouldn't have to look at him.

"Why are you out here so late?" I asked.

"Why are you?"

_Touche_.

"I guess I…couldn't sleep." I said quietly. It felt weird talking normally in this silence. I felt as if I was disturbing some calm force.

I heard Zoro shift beside me.

"The sky," He said after a moment of silence.

He shrugged.

_What about the sky? _

I glanced back at him. He had sat up and had his arm resting on his knee. His other hand was rested on his sword on the ground. I looked up at the sky. I never saw the point in looking at stars but I could relate with sitting in silence. My hand moved to my pocket in which I remembered something.

"Why did you do that the other night?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Yesterday, that was dangerous. You didn't have to do that."

"Ah, Next time I'll let you drown then." He said but sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying…"

_What am I trying to say? And why does this annoy me so much?_

The green haired samurai turned to me. His eyes were locked intently with my own.

"Listen," He breathed heavily.

"It's my duty to crew and its captain to protect all its passengers. And as much as I want to say Luffy was wrong for bringing you here, I have to respect his wishes."

I did not want anyone putting their life on the line for me. I was already planning on blindsiding them and leaving. I did not need any more debt hanging over my head.

"You really don't have to-" I began.

"I don't care how you feel. I'm going to do my job whether you appreciate it or not."

"You're a member of the crew now, so that makes you my nakama." Zoro laid back down not giving me a second look.

I had been called many things before in my life including but not limited to: Stingy B*tch. Little boy. Lesbo. Uncompassionate Jerk. Girl with the face. Maggot. Butch. And the 'world's greatest failure'.

Yet, never in my life had that list included the word 'nakama'.

So when I heard it pass his lips, all I could do was sit and stare at my coat pocket.

~**End Chapter**

* * *

><p>Chapter Ten Preview:<p>

**Land Ho! And Off the Ship for Good?**

_I can't believe it! Actual land! Actual unmoving hard ground floors? I think I might just die!_

Release Date: 2/14 (subject to change)


	10. Land Ho! And Off the Ship for Good?

**Author's note**: Hi guys! So this chapter is shorter I know. But hopefully I'll have the next one out in a shorter time.

In the meantime…

Geniet! (Enjoy)

* * *

><p><strong>Land Ho! And Off the Ship for Good?<strong>

_I can't believe it! Actual land! Actual unmoving hard ground floors? I think I might just die!_

I was running. Well that's not exactly true. I was walking, but it was not entirely a walk but more of a speedy stride. Lacking good judgment and speed I zipped across the back alley leading into a series of tighter and condense packed buildings. It would be impossible nearly improbable that they would find me here. They probably haven't even noticed my departure.

My heart was light and my mind sent signals of tingles down my body which resonated at the base of my stomach.

Why was I so nervous?

Was it the feeling that I was being followed?

I slipped next to a cart of what appeared to be apples ignoring the sneer coming from the native elderly woman sitting by. Then I took one of the red fruits in my hand and pretended to examine it while searching the area surrounding. No familiar faces. Good.

Just a sea of unrecognizable bodies passing by.

I stood out in the middle of the bazaar with my over sized plain yellow jacket and sketchy large equipment strapped to my back. The attire here was composed of many bright oranges, yellows, and reds. People dressed warmly and incorporated a number of bright patterns to compliment their tan hues of skin.

I was a foreigner, and the way I uncomfortably fidgeted around made it seem even more so.

"Are you goin' to buy or not?" The lady said using a slightly strange accent.

I put down the apple mumbling a sorry.

"Do you know where I can find ferry service here?"

I asked while looking over my shoulder.

She fingered the string of beads hanging around her neck.

"Ferry? We don't usually have that many visitors around here. But if you want to ask someone about a boat it would have to be Kinu."

"Kinu? Where can I find him?"

She scoffed.

"You don't find Kinu. Kinu finds you."

I blinked.

"Okaaay."

"I hear he hangs around the other side of the island, but I wouldn't go there...it's not safe."

A girl around my age commented. She looked at the display and then eyed me over. Her deep blue eyes were filled with curiosity as she stared at what would be strange attire for her. She wore a red bikini top and wrap like skirt with pink flowers across it. Her long blue hair spilled over her shoulders as she leaned into the cart.

"You're not from around here are you?"

She said matter-of-factly.

I looked around.

There was no use in hiding it was pretty obvious I was a fish out of water.

I nodded.

"I can show you where he is."

"Oh, really?"

"For a fee."

Earlier this afternoon...

"Land ho!" Luffy announced joyfully. He held his hands above his eyes to block out the sun and placed his foot at the top of the rail of the boat. Usopp watched him worriedly in case Luffy began to get too overly excited.

"We should be arriving in 15 minutes." Nami sighed with satisfaction.

She held her telescope to her eye and looked out at the land mass nearing us.

"But it's still strange. You would think that an island that size would be mentioned on the map somewhere..."

"Well shouldn't you know?" Zoro asked. He leant his back against the pole in the middle of the ship. His closed eyes and unmoving expression gave no implications that he was glad to have found land again.

Nami shot him an annoyed glare.

"Well of cour-"

She began.

"Of course, Ms. Nami knows what she's doing. She doesn't need you stressing her out with your stupid questions, Marimo!"

Immediately a flash of anger arrested his features and he brought his previously crossed arms down to his sides.

"No one was talking to you, you shitty cook. I was just saying that as a navigator it's her job to know where we are."

"Pfft. Like you're one to talk about getting people lost. You can't even find your way out of a paper bag!"

"What the hell did you say?"

Zoro took a couple of steps forward.

"I said go jump in a ditch dumbass swordsman!" Sanji growled in between his cigarette.

They stared at each other growling inwardly like two ravenous dogs ready to battle for a piece of meat called pride.

Nami sighed, long forgotten by now, and turned back out toward the calm sea waters.

"I'd rather throw you in one."

"Tch. We'll see who'll be doing the throwing-"

"Will you morons shut up, we're here."

They stopped the borderline childish bickering but there deathly gazes still remained intertwined.

I walked towards Luffy staring warily at the stare down.

Something in my stomach bubbled up as I watched the back of his red half shirt and dirty faded blue jean capris. I stood there for a moment rethinking over what I was going to say.

I had made up my mind even after the octopus incident and even after last night.

I had to think with my head. Thinking with my heart would only get me into trouble.

But what would I say?

Say nothing.

That's what I was supposed to say. I was not entitled to give him a formal goodbye. That was reserved for...friends.

We weren't...friends...were we?

I was suddenly reminded of my conversation with Zoro. How he had referred to me, indirectly, but none the less, as his nakama. That declaration as insignificant as it may have seemed to him carried a slightly heavy weight in my heart. Being someone's friend meant having responsibilities.

What would they think of me if I suddenly up and left?

Not too highly I supposed.

But then again that would be nothing new.

I entered into the ship's foyer. Judging by the movement the ship was steadily coming to a stop and entering one of the docks provided. They weren't a lot of ships around, which was odd seeing how the island had looked relatively big. I would assume that it had a good sized population, but I could not tell with all the palm trees blocking the view.

I rummaged through my coat pocket. All my things had been packed away into my backpack while everyone else was sleeping.

Then I pulled out the letter that Chopper had made. I shoved it back into my pocket.

Then I began to walk to where the ship's exit was located.

Back to the present

I followed behind my not all too hospitable paid guide. We were walking through the forestry part of the island. The green lushness reminded me of pictures found in books about rainforests.

"Are we there yet?" I asked impatiently.

"I feel like we're going in circles."

She continued walking hoping over a large tree root jutting out of the ground. I copied her action except with a little less grace and a bit more tripping and ouching.

"I know this area like the back of my hand." She assured.

I was silent.

Through the palm tree trunks was a bit of concrete. We were nearing a road like structure which meant civilization again.

The trees thinned and we entered a shoddy looking area with small concrete structures. This side of the island was a lot more 'modern' per se than the other ones, yet...

The atmosphere seemed to be...

"All right," She turned to me. Then she placed her slender hands on my shoulder.

"Follow the road until you get to a building called the 'Sexy Shabu Paradise' then go directly to the bartender missing his right eye."

Right eye, why was that detail important? And 'Sexy Shabu'? I better not be going to some strip club.

"Say you're a foreigner looking for a man named Itomimizu-"

"Itomimizu? I thought I was looking for Kinu?"

She narrowed her eyes in confusion but then opened them widely again.

"Oh, right." She laughed.

"Itomimizu is Kinu's...secret name."

Why does he need a secret name? And why do I feel like we're conducting a drug trade?

"But what should I-"

"Don't' worry about it. Just ask him. I have to go now." She looked over her shoulder before disappearing back into the trees.

"Don't look anyone in the eye!" She called behind her.

Why with the uncalled for behavior all of a sudden? It made me doubtful for some reason but maybe that was just paranoia rearing its ugly head again.

I sighed. There had to be a more roundabout way of doing this.

But I was here now. I walked into the mildly busy roads. People were sitting out in chairs on the sidewalk talking casually or drinking .I felt their eyes follow me as I trekked further down the walkway. I clutched onto by backpack straps more tightly. At least I was away. It would probably be a while before they noticed I was gone. And even then they may have just thought I was getting supplies. And if then they still did not realize I was leaving then I would already be gone. Besides, I left a letter on my cot. They would read that eventually to at least know I had not been captured and murdered. It was the least I could do but the most I wanted to do when it came to leaving.

Five minutes later, I approached a large concrete building with a sign over it reading "Orange Top Paradise' in orange letters.

Things were better this way I repeated in my head.

I entered into the bar like area. The dimly room was at odds with the cheery environment outside. A few tables lined the room here and there. And different mismatch chairs accommodated each. A woman passed me holding a plate of cups in each hand. I walked past her towards the bar in the middle. It was decorated with seashells and random crusty rusted objects.

A tall lean man stood at the bar in a floral t shirt while wiping a glass halfheartedly. He literally reminded me of a pen with his pointy head shape. As she had stated e was missing an eye apparently due to an eye patch adorned to his face. His sodden face lit upon my arrival.

"What would you like traveler?" He asked before I even got to the counter.

"Uh, I actually,"

I leaned in closely causing him to lean in too.

"I'm looking for a guy named Itomimizu or Kinu, I think. I'm a foreigner, someone told me to tell you."

"Itomomizu? Oh, well, I'll get him. Just wait here I suppose..."

"And here is some water then, if you're just thirsty." He placed a cup in front of me. He threw his towel on the counter behind him and disappeared into another room altogether.

I stood in front of the bar awkwardly before taking a seat on one of the limestone stools.

I sipped on the drink casually. My fingers beat on the bar top impatiently.

Finally the tall lean man reemerged.

"He will see you, behind the building."

I looked at the man who continued to wash the cups. His eyes darted across the bar nervously. He avoided eye contact.

"Fine," I sighed.

I got up from my seat and walked out of the bar. Then I went behind the building entering an alley way. Two large men were playing cards outside of its entrance and did not give me a second look.

The alley way led out to a clearance surrounded by palm trees. A group of men were gathered around in a circle with their backs turned to me.

One of them seemed to be paying some game that involved marbles and shells.

"Hello?" I called out wishing to get someone's attention.

The sound of clinking marbles stopped and the largest of the group turned towards me. He wore black mask, blue gloves and blue pants. His chest was left bare. He was rather large in comparison to any of the other natives; he was actually quite large for a human and quite hairy all over. It made me question if he was a foreigner too.

The rest of the group seemed to all share the mask and striped hats in common.

He approached me slowly sizing me up and down then eyeing the baggage I held. His face resembled that of a gorilla and I questioned in my mind if he was human at all.

"Can I help you?" He asked cheerfully.

"I'm looking for Kinu...or Itomimuzu. I need a ship that can sail me to some islands off to the west probably of here."

He rubbed his chin and some men behind him burst out in laughter.

Then he began to laugh.

Then I began to laugh.

It was a joyless confused laugh but a laugh none the less.

"So, the ride..." I reminded the gorilla like man. He stopped holding his stomach and his sounds quieted.

"Right, the ride. Hey, let's show the foreigner a ride shall we."

"W-wait," I stammered.

He placed his arm over my shoulder and motioned for the other members of the group to gather around. I tensed and wondered for some reason whether his idea of ride would be synonymous with my own.

Why had I not used more discretion! I should have known something was up when I swathe masks.

Well I wasn't planning on becoming another statistic any time soon.

I unlocked myself from his grasp and turned to sprint. Then a large blunt force impacted with my head and-

Darkness.

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><p><strong>Author's Ending note:<strong> So tell me what you guys think so far. And now you all may start to see some familiar one piece characters. But we will see how that goes…

Next Chapter Eleven:

**Naked and Left To Die**

_I clutched onto his arm for support. I could not remember the last time I had felt such emptiness and loss. It was like having an extra limb completely removed from my body._

_And the fact that I had forgotten to breathe only made it worse._

Release Date: **3/15?**


	11. Naked and Left To Die

Author's Note: I want to thank everyone who has commented/favorited/alerted so far. I really appreciate it! It's always a nice feeling knowing someone out there in the world reads your stories. I also misnamed the previous chapter by naming it the title meant for this one. Sorry for the confusion.

Last time: Seeing the opportunity to 'get away' Bleu runs through the island in hopes of finding a means of transportation. Unfortunately, she has ended up in a sticky situation.

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><p><strong>Naked and Left To Die<strong>

Zoro's Perspective

I walked steadily down the dirt path sidewalk. My hands were placed in my pockets, right next to my swords in case I needed to use quickly them. The sun beat down on the earth below reflecting off the seashells and broken beer glass.

A sign in the distance wavered under the illusion induced by the radiating sun.

I wiped my brow and peered at a small wooden street sign with the words COCONUT LANE crudely scribbled in black ink across it.

_Hm. _

Maybe I should have…

**Earlier this morning**

"Since we've at least reached land we might as well get some provisions…"

Nami's voice began to drown out and blend into the background island noise of splashing waves and cawing seagulls. It was not difficult to bloke out the nagging sound of her voice unless she used violence at the same time. This is something that I eventually became accustom to, as did the other members. Well, except for Sanji who seems to love having his ear chewed off for God knows why.

I repositioned myself against the decks hard wood floor. My arm was beginning to fall asleep from laying on my side too long. I closed my eyes upon hearing her say the word 'errands' just so she would know I was unavailable. The weather was appropriate for a good nap, which was exactly how I was intending to spend my time.

"Now make sure you use this wisely. Only get what is exactly stated on the list." Nami reiterated to the group of people standing around her. Chopper, with a look of determination, nodded sternly. Usopp and Franky on the other hand, did not seem half as enthusiastic at the tasks forced upon them.

Sanji grinned and took Nami's hand within his own.

"No worries my princess, we'll be back before the night falls on your beautiful face."

Sanji said while taking the currency in his hands.

I could not help but grunt disapprovingly at the sheer cheesiness of the cook's comment.

Franky jabbed his thumb at Usopp.

"Long nose and me are gonna hit the town and see if they have any Generator compactors." She nodded.

"Fine Robin, Brook and I will keep watch over the ship."

Luffy pushed himself past Usopp and held out his palms in front of the orange haired girl's view.

The navigator looked at his hands skeptically but then crossed her arms over her chest.

"I already know what you're going to ask and the answer is no." Luffy's dark stone eyes remained unaltered. They stared at each other neither one willing to submit until finally Nami had no choice to buckle under Luffy's annoyingly stone gaze.

She sighed and reached into her wallet. Then she dropped a single gold coin in his palm. Luffy stared at it with his eyes lit a fire. It was as if Nami had entreated him with a large sum of money. Even though the single coin could only buy a stick of gum at most.

But Luffy did not know this.

"Don't do anything-"

Our captain was already dragging an unwilling Chopper behind him.

"-stupid." Nami sighed.

I smirked then scratched my chest. A flat hard object suddenly imprinted on my unsuspecting face. "Ugh!" My reflexes caused my arms to reach for my nose as the pain began to pound steadily between my eyes and forehead.

I shot up with my hand still holding my face and stood in front of my female aggressor.

My teeth ground together to prevent myself from releasing any words that I might regret later.

"Did you just stomp my face?" I growled slowly.

She recrossed her arms and gave me her uncaring usual look. Sanji snickered behind her.

"Get off your lazy ass Zoro. There are things you need to do too."

"Tch." She peered at me but continued talking.

"I need you to go find out if this island has any sort of docks, or transportation to other places. We have to find someone who has some knowledge about the sea in this area."

_And WHY is it necessary that I do it?_

"Are you seriously relying on moss head to _find_ something by his self?" Sanji questioned obnoxiously.

My blood spiked and I sent a threatening glare in the shitty cook's direction. Nami simply ignored the exchange and impatiently placed her hand on her hip.

"That's why you'll ask Bleu to go with you." Nami encouraged.

I looked down at her doubtfully, the pain between my eyes resounding to a dull nod.

"He couldn't find his way out of a paper bag." Sanji continued his antics behind me. My eye twitched. Yet, I resisted the temptation to shove a paper bag down his throat and see how well he found that.

"Why?" I asked curtly.

She placed her other hand on her hip and leaned in closely.

"Just _ask_ her Zoro, she said she's traveled a lot so she'll know how the business works. Bleu will probably downstairs since I haven't seen her in her room…"

I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Fine."

I took the piece of paper out of her hands.

What a way to start the day.

Then I stuffed it in my pocket and headed to bottom floor of the ship.

I knocked on the door leading to Usopp's office.

No answer. I did not usually hang around this part of the ship. This was where the inventors made their stuff or whatever. I had no interests in mechanical weapons. I always believed guns and cannons were for men to afraid to use real combat.

I knocked again but this time more loudly and quicker.

I exhaled arduously then pushed open the door. The flimsy lock snapped off the handle and fell to the ground with a clunk. It was beyond me why this girl chose to lock herself away in this jail cell each day. I coughed. The soot in the air wafted into my throat and settled on my shoulders.

_I'm surprised she doesn't have lung cancer_.

The room was filled with a number of mechanical objects I would never care to understand.

"Bleu" I called out. Her name echoed against the metallic walls. Then her name fell silent amongst the bags of gunpowder. I would like the quiet though.

But it was too dark here. I needed the light. I shook my head.

_She's a weird girl._

The island's inhabitants appeared to be decent enough people on the outside. Everyone seemed to be very relaxed and slow moving as if there was nowhere to go and no deadlines to meet. This did not stop me from remaining on my toes. It was always the people you least expect. That was how they tricked you.

I started to wonder why Bleu had left the ship without letting anyone know.

_Did she need something?_

It was not as if it was any of my business, just why be so secretive about it?

Having to monitor people makes things more difficult than they had to be.

I made a turn around a building, ignoring the offer from a salesperson for some strange shaped fruit.

If there was one thing that disconcerted me the most about Bleu that was her eyes. My old master had told me that the eyes were the window to the soul. If that was true, Bleu's eyes were a broken murky algae covered window.

Whenever I speak to her, I cannot help but feel something in the back of my mind. Her intentions from the day I met her were remain undecipherable. I took a left, behind another building passing another man trying to sell a strangely shaped fruit.

The worst part was that no one else seems to notice or even talk about it. They all blindly accepted her as she was, Luffy especially.

I looked up and peered at an upcoming street sign.

COCONUT LANE

My eye twitched reflexively. Someone must have thought it was comical to name every street Coconut Lane. How are people supposed to find their way around?

"Oof,"

Someone ran right into me at full speed causing me to fall face first onto the gravel. The pain from my previous injury returned with double the force. I spit out the dirt and gravel.

I craned my neck to see the weight laying on my back.

A young woman dressed in a floral outfit looked up at me through red-rimmed glasses and blushed.

"Ah, you need to like, pay attention!"

Her blue hair began to slip off her scalp and fell off completely in the midst of her gathering herself to reveal a head of darker blue hair. She looked somewhat familiar.

"Come on, if we're late Boss 'll get angry." A much larger gruff man urged her while in mid stride.

"Don't order me around Hamburg." She bit back, leaving her hair on the ground behind her.

Rude, I huffed. Then I looked at the crumple of blue hair on the ground.

"Hey, you forgot your…" I did not intend to touch the thing so I just let it go.

I had 'important' things to do.

I decided to follow a small elderly women a ways behind her. She must be going somewhere other than I where I was currently. After a while of following and walking, the area around me changed dramatically to the point where I questioned if this part of town was even a part of the island. There buildings looked a lot more commercial than brightly colored clay thatch houses and buildings of before. The population here was also a lot denser. And the people appeared a lot more hardened. 'Hello's and 'Good evening's were a lot harder to come by as it seemed that everyone had some place to go, if they were not standing beside buildings in vague groups.

A clay vase rolled out of the elderly woman's cart in front of me when she hit a bump in the road. It landed at my feet and I bent down to pick it up. The older woman in front of me stopped abruptly. She dropped the cart and hobbled god speed toward the vase swiping it up before I could fully bend down to reach it.

"Hmpfh! Don't you touch that you foreign scoundrel!"

"I was just trying to-" I tried to explain.

"You can't fool me. Ever since you foreigners came you've been nothing but trouble." She wagged her wrinkly finger in front of me.

I looked at her skeptically.

"Don't think I didn't see you eyeing my…"

She placed her hand on her bottom.

"…goodies."

I blinked.

"…what?"

She turned around taking her vase with her and pulled the cart down the road.

_Crazy woman._

After walking for a period of time, I found myself in a darker area.

I scratched my head wondering as to how I ended up here. I was in an alleyway when I could have sworn I was walking along an open road just a few seconds ago.

Without realizing it my foot landed on something soft. This action elicited a muffled moan. I looked down to find the upper torso of a body, face down on the floor. The rest was concealed by a pile of trash.

"Homeless people really need to find a better place to sleep." I commented under my breath. The body groaned once more and its fingers twitched. I took a step back.

The girl slowly lifted herself up to her knees. I grabbed her arm and pulled her up to her feet.

Her other arm was covering her face and her legs were slightly bent. She ran a hand through her chestnut hair and then looked at me with shock.

She yanked her hand away only to cause herself to trip over her own boots and fall back down again.

It took me a second few seconds before I put matched the raincoat to the short brown hair and freckles.

"Bleu?" I asked more so in surprise. She rubbed the back of her head, her gaze faced toward the ground.

"What are you doing here…sleeping in the middle of the alley way. I wasted my morning looking for you." I tried to conceal my irritation.

"If you want to go trash diving that's on you but don't just leave without saying anything. It's rude."

She stumbled back up again, and then ambled past me. She stopped and looked down at her own body then sighed with relief as if she was satisfied with her garbage-laden appearance.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

I grabbed her arm.

"Listen, I don't care what you were doing out here just make sure you-"

"How did you find me?" She interrupted. Her thick eyebrows lay heavily set upon her eyes. Her voice was unusually soft.

Was she drunk? More questions that are important needed to be answered than my way of finding her in this alley.

"That's-"

"Wait!" Bleu whipped around suddenly tearing herself from my grasp.

"Those men-Ozzy-my stuff."

She babbled. I could not make sense of what she was saying.

Then she walked to the outside of the alleyway into the street.

I followed behind her.

_Had she lost her mind?_

I knew there was something off about her. The quiet ones always turned out to be psychotic.

She stopped and turned to me.

"My stuff." She whispered. She placed her hands deep into her pockets.

"Where are my things?" She asked frantically.

"How am I supposed to know?"

Bleu ran past me once more and began to search through the trash.

I watched, hesitant to approach her. What had happened? What things was she talking about?

Bleu's Perspective

I ripped through the bags allowing a flow of cluttered mess to spill out onto the ground.

Zoro was calling my name, but his voice seemed distant. My hands were stinging as I threw a broken pan and old train set across the alley.

Zoro dodged the flying objects with ease as he approached me.

"Bleu, what's going on?"

"Th-They stole it." I breathed. My heart was fluttering in my throat threatening to fall into the depths of despair.

"What? I can't hear-"

"They stole it!" I could not help but yell.

I got up from the ground and paced furtively. Then I tugged at my short scruffy hair.

Then I checked my coat once more, in case it rally was there and I just had not checked thoroughly enough. The lack of backpack straps pulling against my shoulders was too much to bear. My heart was pounding and that all too familiar feeling of anxiety shot through my abdomen like lightening.

They had taken it all and left nothing; no paper, no bullets, not even a little pistol.

They even stole my candy bar I was planning to have for lunch. My legs gave out from underneath me and I fell on my knees.

"What happened?" Zoro's voice softened.

"My…my…"I was not sure if I could find the words to say it.

I gulped.

"My artillery, my blueprints…" My words were all running into one incoherent jumble. Zoro grabbed my shoulders roughly and looked me dead in the eyes.

"Bleu, what did they take?" He asked precisely and calmly.

I clutched onto his arm for support. I could not remember the last time I had felt such emptiness and loss. It was like having an extra limb completely removed from my body.

And the fact that I had forgotten to breathe only made it worse.

"They, they took…my…everything." My voice cracked and I shook in his grasp. Under his gaze, I suddenly felt conscious about my disheveled look, countenance, and obvious stupidity.

_How could I have let something like this happen? Zoro must think I'm foolish. _

We both kneeled in the road while pedestrian passing by gave us weird looks.

Yet, the only thing that I could hear was the irregular struggled huffing of my breath.

I wanted badly to break free of his hands and run through the streets or kick something or even scream to the heavens. However, his hands like stone chains held me in place. So I was forced to stay, to breath, and to calm.

"It's going to be alright. We'll get your stuff back."

"Bu-"

"I said-" He cut me off.

"-I'll get your stuff back."

And I could not question his determined dark brown stare.

**~End of Chapter**

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><p><strong>Author's End Note<strong>: So yeah… I know it took me an incredibly long time to update. I'm really sorry. Thankfully, summer has started which means a lot less stress from school and silly teachers!

Next Chapter Twelve:

**In the State of Desperation**

"_There they are! There are the guys who stole my things!"_

_I called out._

_Zoro tried holding his arm to block me in my determined stride but I simply slapped it away._

"_Bleu, wait- forget it." _

_It did not matter if everyone in the world thought I was crazy. The crooks that jumped me and stole my things were standing right there and I was going to beat their asses one by one._


	12. In the State of Desperation

**Author's note**: Hi guys! So yeah… has been making many updates to their site. They even have a cover option. Since I have no artistic abilities I may end up not taking advantage of that option. I wonder if it would attract more readers though…

Previous Chapter: Blue has met up with Zoro who has assured her he will help her find her things. Will they be able to catch the hooligans who stole her equipment? More importantly, will they find out the reasons why it was stolen in the first place?

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><p><strong>In the State of Desperation<strong>

My gaze drifted to those black murky boots of his. The anxiety continued to bubble inside my stomach but at least I could think. The only thing that felt concrete was Zoro's rough hands digging into my shoulders through the nylon of my raincoat. Everything else in my body felt light and airy.

I pulled myself up from the ground.

"We should start looking." I stated. He crossed his arms.

"Don't you think we should get your head checked out first? There's no use going on some wild goose chase after someone we don't even know."

Good point. Ironic that he would be the voice of reason.

"But if we don't move now, they'll leave with all my artillery. We have to start searching!"

I held my head. It was pounding painfully in my hands.

What would a bunch of islanders want with my weapons anyways?

"Well let's start with you telling me what happened and this time, speak English."

I took a big breath. We should be tracking these people down but...

I rubbed the back of my head where a knot was beginning to form.

"I had left the ship ..." I should probably leave out the bits about running away, I realized. That goal would have to be put on the back burner.

"…to get some... fresh air. Well actually I wanted to see what their docks were like." His eyebrow rose as he watched me with an indifferent stare. I shifted uncomfortably and averted my eyes. It was difficult to lie to him because I felt like he could see right through my pseudo emotions. I focused my attention on his green bristly hair.

"I was surveying the island when I met this girl."

This was too difficult.

He made a sound with his teeth urging me to continue.

"She showed me through the woods to this side of town where I met the bartender and then I went into this alleyway and then these guys jumped-"

He growled.

I took a breath.

"I went into the bar-for no reason really-just to get some information about the place. After a drink, he…told me about this person. He may have been the mayor of the island-I don't know- and so I was told to meet him in the alleyway. Then this really large guy and a couple of other guys jumped me."

I was not sure if he believed me or not but he did not follow up with any questions.

"Is that it?" He finally said.

I nodded.

"Then you stepped on my head in the gutter." I added.

He grunted disapprovingly. "That's what you get for trusting strangers and going out by yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean? I can take care of myself. It was just bad luck."

"What if some other guy had found you out here unconscious."

Touché.

"What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything. I'm just saying that now you're a part of the crew you have to be more responsible. There's no reason for you to go off by yourself without letting anyone know."

"I'm not some kid you know." I whispered.

We decided the best place to start was the in the bar next-door. There was a high possibility that the bartender may have an idea of what was going on. He was the person who sent me to the alleyway in the first place. People running with a load of deadly weapons could not have been that subtle. Someone had to have been a witness.

We entered the doors. The clatter of glasses and mumbling of gruff middle-aged men stopped. The place was poorly lit, as I remembered from before, obscuring the faces inside. I bit my lip, determination boiling up inside me but with no direction to focus it to. I looked across the room for any familiar faces that might ignite my memory. The green haired samurai had already seated himself at the bar across the room as I was busy scanning the room cautiously. He ignored the condescending glares shot at him through the harden looks of the island natives.

"Uh, Zoro," I passed a mirror on my way to the counter and tried to pat my shaggy hair in place.

We both sat at the bar counter. Waiting.

A large burly man scooted a few stools away from us before whispering harshly to man sitting beside him.

Zoro turned to an older gentleman sitting beside him. "Hey you," he approached a burly man at the bar. I looked at his face out of the corner of my eye to see I he looked familiar. To my dismay, he was not.

"Where's the bartender here?" He asked obviously immune to the glances he was receiving.

He looked at Zoro for a second unwilling to talk at first.

"The bartender just ran into the back room. He says his shift is over."

_So he's hiding. The first sign of being guilty. _

I crawled defiantly over the counter knocking over a few glasses of untouched alcohol with my lengthy gangly legs.

Zoro followed suit except with less exuberance as he chose to walk around and use the swinging door like a normal person would. The glasses crashed around my feet as I landed, spilling liquids this way and that. I knocked loudly on the door leading to the back room.

"Open up please. I need to talk to you!" I said with restrained urgency.

"No one's here." A feeble voice responded.

_You've got to be kidding me._

"It's an emergency!"

"It's rude to just fly over tables like that." Zoro sighed.

Then he forcibly opened the door. In the back of the room, hurriedly packing away a number of objects was the aforementioned bartender. Just as I had expected.

I think.

He dropped a large bag out of shock and a number of what appeared to be golden coins poured out. He scurried like a rat to collect the contents and push it back into the bag. I looked around the room. It was the size of a small wine closet aligned with shelves filled with various alcoholic beverages.

We stared at him, and he immediately straightened up, wiping his hands on his white apron.

I stepped forward.

"I didn't find-" I glanced at Zoro. Then I looked back at him. "That guy-"

His eyes widened as a sense of recollection washed over him.

"Listen, I don't know anything about anyone. I'm just a bartender."

"Oh really? Are you sure you have nothing to do with me getting mugged?"

"Well that's your fault for not using the buddy system." He said matter-of-factly. Then he held his hands in the air defensively as if he had nothing to do with it.

_I'm not a five year old!_

I felt jilted. He had to have known more than he was letting on but how could I force him to say anything.

"Now if you excuse me." He grabbed his bag full of random items and tried to push his way past us.

Zoro grabbed his shoulder and smirked.

"I don't have the time to play your little islander games. It's obvious that your hiding something by the way your eyes keep darting back and forth. I don't know where you have to go in such a hurry but you tell us what we need to know."

"And what if I don't want to, foreigner?"

Zoro unsheathed his sword form the hilt slightly. The metal glinted malevolently in the dim light. It was only a slight motion but it held a great impact. The look in his eye was enough cause for concern though.

The man gulped and looked warily at Zoro's blade.

"So you all must be those pirates or something. I thought your faces looked familiar…" His tone became more troubled.

He poked his head out the door and looked around guardedly. People had been staring at the door to see what the commotion was about but after a while, they had returned to their own conversations.

He groaned.

"All right, I promise you I had no connection to what those people did to you whatsoever. But I may have been given a message to tell a raincoat clad person that they were expected to go to the alleyway next door." He said quickly.

"You what!" The bartender shrank and attempted to smile weakly.

Zoro shushed me and I gave him a look. He was busy listening intently to the man.

"Please! It wasn't my fault. I had no choice. Lately there have been these foreigners and they've been collecting all our resources, controlling the trade and-" He waved his hands in front of his face.

"Who are these people?" Zoro asked.

"There some sort of pirates I think. They told me to send whoever asked about Itomimuzu next door." He tried to stuff a couple more bottles into his bag.

"Then how am I supposed to get my things back?" I huffed.

"Just forget about your things and be happy you're not dead. If anything, I suggest checking out the cove not too far from the island. It's in a less industrial area on the west so not a lot of people go there but…"

He lugged his large bag over his shoulder.

"Anyways, don't say I told you anything." He scurried through a back door in the backroom and left us to soak up the information.

I wanted to go after him. The paranoia eating me up inside said there had to be more to the story. As vague as the information was, it opened an even deeper problem than I was willing to get involved in. It established a) the attack was predetermined b) there are other pirates here c) this place is not safe. I just wanted my things back; I did not care about anything else.

"Seems like there are other pirates besides us here." Zoro stated.

He looked pensive almost as if he were trying to remember something. "Let's get back to the ship. It'll get dark soon."

I followed where the bartender had just left stepping on a crumpled piece of paper that had fallen out of his bag during the scuffle. In my frenzy, I had swished right past it. The more time I wasted the more likely something had been scratched or even damaged.

Zoro bent behind me picking up the paper as he did so. He opened the paper to view its contents.

"No wonder," He said underneath his breath.

"Now we just need to find the quickest way to get to the cove." I turned around the corner of the building and just as I was about to enter into the street Zoro jerked me roughly back into the alleyway.

"Hey!" I responded.

"Why do you keep-" I stopped mid sentence.

He lifted the straightened out yellowed piece of paper.

I gave him a unbelieving glance. Why was he showing me this picture? Then I stared more closely at the paper he was holding.

I did not recognize it at first. The ink on the paper was a bit blurry and the face seemed a bit unrecognizable but then I noticed the scruffy short hair, the rain jacket and the boots.

It was I! But…I looked manlier than usual. I took the paper from his hand and analyzed it more intimately. Why am I on a ransom sheet? And why am I so buff?

That was definitely my face meant to be on there. It was a 'close up' of me ready to throw a grenade. The image made me appear a lot more intimidating and gave off terrorist vibes. My first name was on there too. As was my previous nickname and the previous nickname before that listed underneath. And just to be sure, they even put my fourth previous alliance on there too. With a gigantic, "WANTED", printed above the picture. I turned the paper over and held it up to the receding sunlight.

The official marine stamp was inscribed within the paper. My heart chilled and a new wave of anxiety washed over me.

"Apparently you're wanted here, so I would lay low if I were you."

He walked passed me nonchalantly.

Pirate.

I was branded as a pirate now. It was not as if I was on the side of the marines. I had cut off all ties I felt connected us long ago. Even though from time to time I would make deals with them. However, I was never a considered a sought after terrorist. I had never been WANTED.

How ironic that I would be put under the same category of a group of people I had thought so lowly of my whole life.

We walked along the street. I decided to cover my head with the hood of my raincoat. Not that that helped. Bright yellow raincoats did not provide the same camouflage effects as cameo did. The only advantage I had was that my hair had grown a bit longer than from the time I left the island. I was also less dirty.

"This island isn't as untouched as we thought. If there are other people here who know about the Marines then we should tell the rest of the crew."

Zoro said.

I did not respond.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," I dismissed. Then I tucked away the scrap of paper.

_I wonder how long this has been circulating. The navy must have mass produced this sense I left. _

I needed to find my things quickly. Leaving the Straw Hats could no longer be a priority. Above and beyond that I was exposed and without aid. I needed Zoro's help whether I wanted it or not.

"We can't just go back to the ship now. And it seems like we can't just go wondering the island either."

I urged him.

Zoro looked at me warily.

"I'm sure these people are just a bunch of thugs. We can handle them by ourselves."

I said aloud while holding my fist in the air.

Zoro began to walk past me. His hands were in his pockets and he had that usual aggravated look on his face.

I sighed. My hands needed to hold something. They needed to feel the familiar sensation of cold hard steel.

"Are you coming? It'll be harder to find the cove if we can't see." He continued to walk and I stumbled closely behind him.

If I did not find his apathetic eyes so vexing, I would have given a sigh of mild content. But all I did was stare at him out of the corner of my eye with a gleam.

After a while of searching, and finally asking a homeless man for directions Zoro and I happened upon the cove of which the bartender was speaking of.

This cove fit the description of any standard cove. It was like a crescent shaped beach. The beach was cut off from the rest of the island by trees and a cliff surrounding. It would seem to be a decent place to set up an organization. It sure took a while to get here. Other than that advantage you were left pretty much out in the open.

We crept silently through the bushes paying close attention to the soft flame burning in the middle of a campsite. The sound of the waves receding against the sand acted as a tempo marker and I counted the seconds it took in between each hushed splash. There were only three men.

Each with their backs turned against us on rotted logs of scrap wood.

I scanned there little campsite only to find two sleeping bags and a sad excuse for a make shift shelter. No weapons.

Suspicious.

_But one did look familiar._

"So, how much do you think boss is going to get paid for this?" The largest of the three asked.

The other seemed to shrug.

"Who cares? As long as I get to eat tonight I don't care what the boss does." He replied simply.

"I dunno about all this. I just don't like the fact that we're making deals with those marines." The one eating something mumbled.

Zoro rose from his spot on the floor. I grabbed his arm alarmed at the sudden movement.

He looked down at me.

"Stay here. I'll take care of them."

"I'll go too-"

"And do what? Sulk until they leave? Stay here so you don't get in my way."

I bit my lip and sat back in my original spot.

"Besides, all I'm good for is fighting anyways."

Those words reminded me of the fight we had when deciding on what route to take. It happened after the octopus monster incident. I may have said something along the lines of him being lazy and only useful for defense. In retrospect, it was probably a very mean thing to say even if I was a bit angry. I was no official member of the crew so I had no right to determine a person's expediency.

Zoro approached the group in an almost a casual manner. They halted their conversation which had eerily mentioned the marines. The sound of the name almost struck more fear in me than the name of Blackbeard.

I could only assume these people could not possibly be crew members or subordinates of Blackbeard. Their attire was excessively flashy. The bright colors and clashing patterns had more relevancies in a circus tent then on a pirate ship. Then again, I have seen some pirates with quite the wacky attire. They had to belong to some other crew. I grabbed a stick near me and scrambled up next to Zoro.

_I can be useful, I think._

He sighed, probably not all too surprised that I came out anyways.

The largest one turned towards Zoro and immediately took out a small knife from his pocket. The others got up behind him and each took a defensive stance as well.

"I have some questions that you may be able to answer." Zoro began.

The goofy pirate ignored his statement.

"What the hell are you two doing out here? No one's allowed to come near the cove."

Then I spoke up.

"I know one of you guys or someone around here stole my things!"

The larger man peered down at me. He did not appear to look the same as the one who approached me in the alley but I was sure one of them was involved.

The one behind the man looked from my face to Zoro's and a sense of recognition seemed to overcome him.

The skinnier one grabbed the larger one's shirt and tugged on it lightly. The leader of the group merely disregarded him.

"Ah, so I guess you're supposed to be that Master Gunner guy we were after. Pretty brave to come back to our hideout like that."

"I'm not a guy." I interjected.

"Do you think we should be telling them-" The skinnier one mumbled.

"Who cares? They'll be sleeping with the fishes in a second."

_Who even uses that term anymore?_

The other tugged on the hem of his shirt once again but with more urgency.

The one with the knife turned back towards us and turned his knife over so it glinted in the light of the setting sun.

"Too bad you came here for nothing. The boss and everyone else are out celebrating. Who knows where that stuff you're looking for is now-"

Before I knew it, the man had fallen to his knees holding his stomach in his hands. He hit the sand with a loud thump.

The expressions of the other two and I both resembled that of shock. My eyes were to slow to have seen what had happened. I could only assume it was Zoro's doing.

Zoro placed the back of his katana blade on his shoulder.

"We don't have time for this. Tell me who you are, why you're here, and where you put all those weapons." Zoro demanded.

"Y-yeah, what he said." I pointed to Zoro in an attempt to keep my cool.

The skinniest of the men held up his hands defensively above his head. Then the other waved his hands through the air and laughed hysterically.

"P-Please, there won't be any need for that. We'll tell anything you need to know! Just please don't kill us!"

"So you want to play those kinds of games?" Zoro kicked the pleading man in the face causing him to tumble a ways off.

"Zoro! That guy just said he was going to tell us what we need to know! If you keep attacking everyone there will be no one left to ask." I told my companion frantically.

The swordsman looked at me with a confused expression.

"Ah! Really we don't want to fight or anything!" The groveling pirate begged. I thought I heard a disappointed sigh from beside me.

"You're things-most of it is here." He motioned to a rock where a bunch of crates was stacked on top of one another.

My heart suddenly fluttered with anticipation. It was as if it were too good to be true. I could not let myself look too much like a child entering an amusement park in front of Zoro.

_Pull your freaking self together woman!_

"Why were they taken in the first place though?" I urged him to speak. My eyes remained locked with the crates.

"The boss is planning on selling your things I think to some navy ship or something. I don't know any details but they should be coming sometime tomorrow or something." He sniffled.

_So this IS about the navy. Crap._

I rubbed my shoulder.

"Where are they now?"I asked.

"The rest of the crew is probably off celebrating or something. They said something about dinner." He scratched his head trying to recall the information.

"And who exactly is your 'boss'?"

"His name is Foxy, Foxy the Silver Fox."

I turned to look at Zoro and he looked back at me.

_Should I know who that was?_

Suddenly, a piece of metal sliced through the air and landed between us. I took a step back seeing my reflection in the large metal blade's surface. Zoro was on the other side and he called out my name.

I looked around to see the source of the assault. It was rather dusky out now that the sun was almost gone. A looming figure lunged toward our direction from behind. It was swinging a similar large weapon in its hands. Zoro ran around the blade.

"What's going o-"

"Move!" He unsheathed both swords and kicked me out of harm's way all in one fluid motion. The fast moving figure ran into Zoro headfirst and he was thrown twenty feet away.

The green haired man skidded across the sand before landing against the base of a palm tree. I rubbed my boob which had taken the brunt of the kick.

Instinctively, my legs were telling me to head for the hills but my heart began to pump something else into my veins. Running away had always been one of my few talents yet now I my legs failed to work.

"Zoro!" I called out.

Was I scared? I had the choice of leaving with what I had or staying and helping.

I was a selfish person, I knew. It was not like me to feel…obligated.

But for the first time I was more afraid for someone other than myself.

I got up to my feet. That man had to be at least four times as tall as I was, and I was pretty tall for my age.

He sneered at me with his hippo like face. He was wearing a green armored suit with various designs and a black mask covered his face. I looked over my shoulder at the crates stacked against a rock only a few feet away. Then I looked at Zoro who had picked himself off the ground.

"If you're going to kill me."

He rolled his arm around in its socket. Then he cracked his neck.

"Strike me down from the front, coward." The swordsman said condescendingly.

My beating heart calmed as the hardened swordsman made his way back to the large man holding the swords.

"So you're still standing huh? I wouldn't expect any less from the legendary swordsmen Roanoa Zoro." He said mockingly.

Zoro's eyebrows rose.

"Do I know you?"

"It's Pickles!" He said as if offended at the fact that Zoro had not recognized him.

He lunged back at Zoro but this time he began to spin. As his speed increased, he resembled a toy top with dangerous blades flashing around him.

_How could someone with such stumpy legs move so fast?_

Zoro seemed unfazed with the show. He held his sword out in front of him bracing for the attack.

I looked at the boxes full of my ammunition sitting not too far off.

Then I looked at my hands calloused from years of work. Then I wondered if they could ever possibly be used to help someone other than myself. If they could be used for something…

I clutched my hands and turned up towards the spinning aggressor.

They had cheated. Throwing some sort of blinding gas at his eyes. While as good as a samurai he was, he would have trouble defeating them in the dark with the little light he had.

The rate at which he spun made him look like a deadly tornado. He began to pick up sand along with him.

Zoro rubbed his eyes. He jumped effortlessly out of the way of the spinning blades and landed behind him.

"Damnit Bleu?" He called out ignoring the taunts of the attacker.

I ran towards the cart of weapons. They had to be something I could use.

Before I reached the stash, someone grabbed me from behind and landed on my back. I could feel his bony knees and hands digging into my shoulders as I tried to wring myself free.

"Ge-Get off of me!" I spat out the sand in my mouth.

The sniveling man from before sniffled.

"I can't let you interfere, punk."

He pushed my head into the dirt. Then I heard him unsheathe a small knife. I panicked and jabbed my elbow into his nose. He recoiled and I took the opportunity to crawl towards the crates. I reached for the long wrapped cylinder object and pulled the already opened wrapping paper off its metallic surface.

_I hope this is still loaded. _

I threw it on my shoulder and pulled the lever not taking time to properly aim. It shook and there was a spark before a flash of fire shot out of its barrel and whizzed past the lackey. It flew through the night sky towards the larger man with the blades. He turned to the incoming ball of fire and deflected it with his sword.

The force of the impact caused him to falter backwards. The fire headed upwards into the sky before it fizzled out exploding into what resembled fireworks.

Zoro took advantage of the distracted pirate and ran towards him. Pickles was caught off guard. He brought out his sword to block the incoming blow. Zoro kicked him in the face and launched him into the ocean.

I ran towards Zoro, going out of my way to step on Pickles' bony companion as I did so.

"Are you al-" I stopped myself.

_Why was I so concerned?_

"I'll be fine." He responded before wiping his eyes with the palm of his hands.

"But we should find cover first. I'm sure those fireworks may attract some unwanted attention soon."

I nodded and looked off into trees afar.

In the distance, I could see small embers of fire. It looked like we would have company sooner than later.

**~End of Chapter**

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><p><strong>Author's End Note:<br>**This chapter was a bit long.

Next Chapter Thirteen

**Salty Secrets**

_Now it was only us in a room together. I ran towards the door. Zoro blocked my path. He looked at me almost as if to give a warning._

_"I don't care who you really are Bleu. But you can't expect to lie to us and have us trust you."_

_I opened my mouth to say something. All that I could let escape my lips was a dry 'What do you mean'._

_The man crossed his arms._

_"Tell me—what's your connection to the Marines?"_


	13. I Thought I Told You No

**I know it's been a while since I updated so you may have to go back and reread again if you've forgotten somethings...**

**Part 2 should be coming shortly**

* * *

><p>"Shit," The curse floated effortlessly out of his mouth. The mossy haired samurai sheathed his blade into the hilt resting at his waist and turned to the crates beside us. There was sand caked on his face from where he had laid on the ground. The sand spanned from the side of his arm to his left cheek. I reached a hand up to my chin only to feel something grainy touch my own fingers.<p>

_We- I mean 'I'- need to get my things._ If anything I need to find that cannon. It had belonged to my mentor, the Old Man. While only sentimental, it still held great importance to me. My sand covered hands reached for the crate. Without a moment's notice I wedged my fingers between the top of the wood and began prying it off. The embers that sparkled and fluttered lightly through the gaps of the trees began to grow in size. I looked over at the hill of trees that ended before the beach. My hands wedged deeper between the insufferable wood.

"Instead of standing there, you could h-"

I felt something grip the edge of my raincoat and suddenly my fingers were ripped from the crate.

"Take what you need and let's go," His voice had changed from the indifferent tone he had had before. It was much harsher now.

"You can't be serious! Not after you said earlier that you would help me get my artillery back." I turned around in his grasp, his thick fingers still grasping the neck of my raincoat. "My livelihood is in these crates."

"More people are coming this way." The corner of his mouth curled into an almost half assed scowl.

"I can see that, but I _need_ this. And why are you worried now? You just kicked a guy fifty feet into the sea. We should be fine."

"_I'll _be fine. But if these guys are anything like the other guys we fought then _you _definitely won't be."

_What is that supposed to mean?_

I ripped my jacket from his grasp which seemed more as if he just let it fall from his hands. We stood almost face to face.

"Then just leave me here."

A heavy sigh seeped out from his chapped lips. His eyebrows lowered until they were resting like dark clouds above his eyes.

"I spent all day looking for you, and now that I've finally found your ass I'm starting to get the feeling that you never wanted to be found in the first place."

My mouth closed and I straightened up.

"What type of pirate whose apart of a crew cares more about their things than their own safety? That's just being selfish."

The stray voices rose from barely intelligible whispers to shouts. I put my hand on the crate again. Something resembling guilt began to well up in the form of a knot in my throat.

_It's not like what he's saying isn't true, right? I just wanted to leave. I didn't want to be found._

"I'm not going to force you to do anything. Stay with your shit if you want. But I'm about to leave."

At that moment various scenarios involving different plans as to how I could transport the box began to play in my head. Even though his tiger like eyes bore rested on my face, I continued to stand in front of the wooden boxes. _Maybe if I just carry the whole box and then just hide in some rocks until the morning? No, the box itself is too big. _

…

…

_Shit!_

"Dammit Bleu," Zoro's voice lowered to that of a growl. His hand wrapped around my upper arm and pulled me into the opposite direction of the approaching lights.

"Ah…"

My fingers encased the leather strap on my bazooka. As we he galloped across the bank with his hand tightly enclosing my arm, we approached where the edge where the sand turned into thick trees. My bazooka drug behind us leaving a small trench in the sand below as its handle dug through the ground. I looked on, focusing on the faint red lights bobbing in the distance.

Suddenly, the open night air gave way to occluding leaves and branches. They whipped across my cheeks as we traversed through the foliage. I reached my hand out, as that all too familiar thumping began to resound in my chest.  
>"Stop … stop!"<p>

Without warning, Zoro released my arm. The laws of motion took its course and I fell on top of my bazooka. I let out a shaky hot breath on my rocket's metallic surface then I shot up to Zoro's height.

"I thought you said you were leaving! Why did you - what did you –" I turned to the direction of the beach. I wanted so badly to go back. But go back and do what? That equipment was worth at least 500,000 gold and that's not even counting the blueprints nor the time spent in order to produce the artillery. _Does this guy not realize that?_

Zoro's expression remained stoic and without interest to my current state. A few thin rays of moonlight fell on his face. He opened his mouth but I heard the steel of his blade slide out from his sheath. He gripped it firmly in his hand as his eyes darted to the canopy of leaves above us. Zoro hushed me before moving me aside with his free hand. He kicked the trunk of the tree.

There was a snap as the roots partially broke from the soil. Thump! The tree leaned partially to its side. Thump! A second thump of something lighter hitting the ground.

"Who's there?" Zoro asked as if he did not care for the answer. He began to walk around the tree with his sword in hand.

"Aghh! Wait! It's me!" The familiar voice sounded as if it came from the body of a really small boy.

"Who is me?" Zoro asked.

A large red hat popped out of the bush underneath the leaning tree's canopy. Then it was followed by a furry reindeer like face. He lifted up his small dark hooves.

"Chopper?" Zoro lowered his sword.

I blinked. _What was he doing here by himself?_

I shook my head and looked back out toward the direction where the bank lay. For a moment, the crate and its contents fell back in my mind.

Chopper's large dark pupils grew. "What you couldn't tell by my voice?"

"Well I … that's not important. Why the hell were you up in that tree?"

"Huh? Oh! Usopp"

The small reindeer patted the leaves next to him. There was an audible groan and then a rustle as a leaf covered figure arose from the foliage. It reached up to dust off his head covered in dirt and leaves. That familiar long nose was unveiled. Attached to it was the sunken tan face of Usopp. He placed his hand on his head and rubbed it with great care.

"Usopp, you idiot. Why didn't you say anything?" Zoro sheathed his sword at his waist.

"I _was _about to say something when I was sure it was you but then you had to go and kick down the entire – Bleu are you okay?"

My mind was brought back to the present as Usopp mentioned my name. The three pairs of eyes set on me for that moment. I gripped the leather strap that had dug into the crease of my hand. It was burning now.

Zoro's eyes looked off towards the bank. The wind carried the collection of slight chatter as it began to rise.

"We'll talk later. Let's find a place first." The samurai's voice was curt as he gave the command. Usopp nodded glancing at the direction of the beach. The small medic climbed on top of Usopp and sat on his shoulder.

"I know just the place." He said.

Zoro looked back at me as if unsure if he should make me come or not but he simply turned headed off after Usopp. Unsure of what to do and not wanting to be alone I followed after him almost mechanically as heavy boots clunked against the dirt.

Chopper's not so subtle gaze remained on my face as we disappeared into the forestry area towards town again.

The run there was unusually silent. Every once and a while Usopp would whisper something to Zoro up and head and he would briefly look back at me. I kept my eyes plastered to the ground as the realization that I had left so much behind. We crouched in an alleyway, well, Usopp crouched in the alleyway. Chopper was already at crouching level while standing, Zoro had no need to be stealthy and at this moment and time I could care less about anything.

"Alright, I'm going to go around and knock on the door. When I give the signal, that means the door will be opened for us to –"

"Shut up Usopp and get the door open."

"Fine, fine" He mumbled as he disappeared around the corner. We waited before we heard a loud screeching sound resembling that of a crow. I could hear a breathy sigh come out of Zoro's mouth before he walked out of the alleyway.

It seemed as if we had entered some type of hotel. The building was lined with a bit of mold and the faded once vibrant wall paper was dull and peeling away from the edges of the wall. A woman ushered us up the stairs that creaked below our weight as we followed behind her. Then we traversed a long hallway passing six doors on either side before reaching a dead end. There was a step ladder which she climbed on top of reached up to grab a dangling piece of string. I watched as the ceiling seemed to collapse and an array of ladders unfolded before her. Usopp hesitated before walking towards the ladder.

"Thanks" His voice sounded weak as he peered up into the attic.

The older women who barely reached Usopp's height nodded. Her hair was grey and matted and rested almost unnaturally on top of her head as if it were a wig. I noticed a strand of blue poking out form her hair which I thought was strange. She looked at me and I focused my attention on the stairs leading up to the darkness.

"Yes? Check out tomorrow. Pay now. Yes?" Her accent was unrecognizable.

They exchanged payment or what little Usopp could manage in his overall pockets.

She nodded.

"Bathroom for showers is down the hall, yes?"

She hobbled down the hallway.

We entered the dimly lit room.

The room was barren save for the quilted cot hung in the corner of the room and three boxes shoved to the other corner of the room. There was barely enough room for me to spread out my feet underneath the cot. I wrapped my arm around stomach and placed my forehead into my palm. My hand felt grainy and wet. Zoro stood next the cot and crossed his arms. Chopper immediately jumped into the cot hitting Zoro's leg with his antler as he did so. Usopp crouched next to me and pulled up the stairs until it locked into place.

"I already know what you're going to say and believe me I tried to get a better room."

"That's not important as long as we have a place its fine. Where's Luffy and the others?"

Usopp dug into his ear and pulled out a twig.

"I haven't seen Luffy all day. I … actually haven't seen anyone since we left the ship because …"

"We were hiding from the Marines. Chopper was so scared he almost peed himself." Chopper's voice pierced through the musky air. Usopp shushed him and Chopper sunk back into the cot.

"We weren't hiding. I was merely preparing to launch a surprise trap from above thank you very much. And the trees were wet!"

I looked up from the dried dirt on my boots. Something rough passed down my throat as I swallowed. It rested on my heart. _Were those Marines coming down that hill with the fire? Oh…_

Something resembling dread began to form in the back of my throat as I drew my feet closer to me. Then I ran my fingers through my short brown hair and rested my head on my knees.

Chopper's eyebrows furrowed. "But I rememb-"

"So you all haven't been back to the ship?" Usopp tore his eyes from Chopper who remained oblivious to the warning look.

_The Marines are here? Were they always here? Were they waiting for me?_

"Well it's kind of hard to walk back when there could be a naval fleet at the dock. And what happened to you guys. Run into some Marines."

_They must know I'm here. Why else would they be on this island?_

"Actually … no,"

"We ran into some pirates."

"Pirates! No wonder you guys look so rough."

"Yeah you guys look like a tornado trash can ran over you twice."

"Thanks Chopper."

There was an awkward silence that befell the room after that.

"So … what should we do now?" Chopper piped up.

"Just wait until tomorrow. No sense in looking for someone in the middle of the night."

Zoro sat in the cot catapulting Chopper out of it at the same time. He placed his hands behind his head and leaned backwards.

"I guess Luffy and the others can take care of themselves. I'm just worried about the ship being found …" Usopp's voice trailed off as he looked out of the window that had been bolted down.

I stood up, my bazooka falling off my back with a loud thud, and took a step to the middle of the room. I stumbled and fell into the cot causing it to unhinge. Zoro stood up before falling victim to my clumsiness. I got up to my knees.

_I needed to get out of here. But how? I don't have a ship and screw leaving with the possibility of getting caught by the Marines._

"You're bleeding." Usopp's voice sounded nauseous. I sat on my knees and looked at my shoulder. Lo and behold it was the material had been cut and a red substance was spreading across my upper arm from her shoulder.

"Ah! Someone get a doctor!" Chopper held his hooves to his cheeks as he watched my arm. I looked over at my arm which just now began to hurt. Then I looked over at Zoro's face. Something odd flickered in the corner of his eye before uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. Then my vision grew dark. And the last thing I could see were callouses on his large hands.

* * *

><p>I lifted up her limp body before her nose could touch the floorboards. I turned over her body and brought her up to a sitting position.<p>

"Chopper, get something to wrap her cut with."

"Why would I have something to – oh right, I _am _a doctor." The small reindeer lifted his hat and took out a tin of water and bandaging paper.

Usopp moved edged himself closer to the opposite wall.

_So much for extra support._

"You've got this handled right?"

"I need you to remove her jacket Zoro."

I sighed.

There is not a time I could recall I have ever seen Bleu without a jacket on, no matter how hot it's been outside. Not that I cared anyway, it was better than not wearing anything at all like … Franky. It was still kind of weird to me. My hand hovered over her coat flap. Then I pulled it off her shoulder a bit. For some reason the action felt wrong to me but I continued to support her back. The shirt underneath had been cut away unveiling much of her shoulder. Chopper's face remained concentrated at the injury at hand despite the blood. He merely blinked as he wiped it away. I squatted behind her.

My eyes lazily glanced across Bleu's black shirt and across her collarbone. Her neck was defined and the muscles were apparent underneath her shirt. My eyes followed down her black shirt to her exposed midriff. On her skin were a number of raised marks, like scars, that interrupted her tan skin.

_What the hell am I doing?_

I focused on Chopper's red hat.

"All right, I'm done cleaning up. Just need to wrap it."

I looked down briefly. The skin had been cleared of most blood and the cut was only small. There was a blue marking on her should just underneath the cut. The circular marking was partially covered by her black shirt.

_Where have I seen that before?_

"Can you pull back her shirt a little?"

I moved the shirt aside and held out her arm. While the image looked faded it resembled a flying bird with letters written underneath it on a banner. It did not take me long to recognize the symbol.

I had seen it before. It was the same symbol that had plagued my mind the night before my death. The same symbol that represents the repression of everything that is not in line with the seven seas.

It's-

"Done,"

I pulled her coat back over her shoulder and rested her on the floor.

Chopper smiled to himself as he gazed upon his work.

"Everything's okay over there, right?" Usopp's asked.

I had heard him clearly but my mind had drifted somewhere else. I had known what I had seen, no doubt about it. Why it was there was a whole entire mystery in itself. I looked down at her freckled face.

We decided to go to sleep after Chopper and I hung up the cot again. I laid in the cot with my eyes focused on the crack in the windowsill. My sword leaned against the cot while Chopper had migrated on top of my shoulder. I felt his tiny hoof nudge for the sixth time and I pushed him back down to the other side of the cot.

I did not know what to make of Bleu's tattoo. Not that her past meant all that much to me but the fact that she was so secretive now. It seems as if no one really knows her past or her current motivations. Sad as it was to admit it put me on edge. I was not on edge in the same way I was when Robin first joined, at least I knew what I was dealing with even if I wasn't sure I could trust Robin. But Bleu … what the hell does she want?

_But why do I even care?_

I felt one of my swords leave my side then I reached out a hand to grab it. Light spilled into the room form below. I closed my eyes knowing solely by the clunky steps who it was. A voice whispered a 'crap' before the light disappeared from the room. I shot up.

Unsure of what was compelling me to follow; I left the attic.

* * *

><p>I wiped the dried dirt from my forehead. The candles hand been blown out in the hallways. I inched along looking for a reasonable place to leave out a window of some sort.<p>

"Bleu"

My body jumped at the sound of my name being uttered. My large gun hitting the ground as held myself against a wall.

"It's me Zoro."

My legs relaxed and the feeling of jelly took hold of them.

"What?"

Was all I could say. I could make out the outline of his wide shoulders and tall stature. We stood there in silence as I was not positive if he wanted me to talk.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm … going to the restroom."

"With a gun?"

"It makes me feel safer." The statement almost came out more as a question.

"The restroom's the down the other way."

I was silent after that. What more did he want from me? Why couldn't he just let me be on my way, wherever 'my way' was?

"It's bad idea." He simply said.

I sighed.

"What is?"

"What you're thinking of doing now."

There was a collection of footsteps making their way up the stairs to this level. I looked behind me. We looked at each other before he opened a nearby door and entered the room. I hesitantly followed after him, unwilling to take my chances with the people outside.

The room's light was on. The bed was made and broom was leaning against a small wooden dresser. On the bed there was what appeared to be a grey wig and a dress.

The footsteps passed the door before the sound of a door opening and closing beside us could be heard.

"So you're leaving?"

The question hung in the air. I faced the door.

"I wasn't trying to leave."

"Why is it that everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie?"

"I'm not lying" I lied.

Zoro crossed his arms over his chest. He looked pensive but worst of all he looked tired.

"Why are you following me?"

"Hm, I didn't realize you were so ungrateful. Next time I really will leave you in a ditch and let mob rip you apart. I wouldn't be following you if I knew Nami wouldn't chew me out for leaving you behind."  
>"I didn't mean it like that I just, I don't know what to do…"<p>

My voice faltered a bit.

"Whatever the hell you're trying to do you won't be able to do it by yourself."

"I've come this far on my own so I think I can handle it, okay."

"That's kind of hard to believe when you've managed to almost get yourself killed, three times today."

I closed my mouth as the sweat from my nose traveled across my top lip. He rearranged himself and took his hands out of his pockets. The looked as if they could wrap around the girth of a melon given how massive they looked.

"It's weird that those pirates happened to attack you knowing you had weapons, as if they knew you were going to be here. It's also kind of strange that we only found a wanted sign for your face on this island. As if the Marines might of known you would be here too."

"What are you accusing me of?"

"What's your connection to other pirates or the marines?"

"I've never been a pirate in my life. And … I don't have any connections to the marines."

The last part of the sentence rolled so effortlessly out of my mouth, like a well tuned habit. Zoro walked over to me, his gait precise but his footsteps heavy. He grabbed my shoulder with his colossal hand and looked me straight into my eyes.

"I saw your tattoo."

At first my thick eyebrows fell upon my eyes and the corners of my mouth sunk. I clenched my fist around the strap on my body. A familiar pang shot through my hand.

"How did you see that?"

My hand reached up to rub my shoulder. I could feel the dreaded symbol burning through my bandages underneath my coat. His fingers stopped just above the flaming sensation.

"I've been around enough fucking marines to know when people get tattoos like that." His hand dropped from my shoulder.

Something large in my throat was preventing me from attempting to even formulate a response.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Listen, I don't care about your past, but if you're working with -."

" – I'm not connected with the Marines … now."

_I don't owe him an explanation. _

"Fine, don't say anything. Just know I won't think twice about leaving you off of the ship."

I looked at my boots. I could no longer see the outline of my face, just the faint sheen from the light above. _Would they ever get clean again?_

_I could leave. I could leave right now and it wouldn't matter if Zoro let me back on his ship or not because this was what I had wanted. But then what? _

_I have nothing._

_What can I do against an organization of pirates? At least with Luffy I had … something._

I took in a big air of breath.

The image of Luffy's large grin spread across his rough face came to mind. A strange feeling welled up within my breast which forced out sound on a shaky impulse.

"I got this tattoo while… "

I considered lying, making a cover story or something similar. It was what I was good at. Besides, if someone else knew anything about the 'me' that's not the current me it would be in a way validating the fact that my past me exists. And my past me was not something I wanted to think about. What happened before I meet the Old Man and came to work under him had been just a series of bad dreams for these past few years.

Zoro's usual annoyed expression was gone. His face was relaxed and that crease above his eyebrows was no longer present.

" … serving in the Marines."


End file.
